For the past three weeks I have been trying to stay away from anything that could cause or enrage flu or cold symptoms, as a couple of weeks ago I was sick and was left with a cough I could not kick...
So this diet has seen me cut dairy, wheat, and alcohol from my life (for a few weeks anyway).... which has been surprisingly okay, except for the sugar cravings which have been bad, REALLY BAD, and I've found it really hard not having chocolate, ice cream, the occasional biscuit from the tea room at work, the list goes on, I have a nasty sweet tooth!
These cremes have been my saving grace, and they don't taste odd like a lot of the dairy free things I've discovered in the last few weeks. They are like a pannacotta in texture, and taste mildly of coconut but it is easy enough to mask that flavour if so desired. I've made them about four times in the past two weeks, all different flavours, the first were black sesame (pictured) which were delicious but very sweet. The second - lemon - was more subtle, I served those ones with pinapple and mint sugar and they went down very well with my friends. I then made star anise and lemon, hoping for a licorice flavour, they didn't quite get there, but were pleasant in a slightly strange way! Finally last night I made another attempt at licorice using Aniseed essence and the flavour was much closer to what I wanted, these will be tonights dessert with shaved dark (dairy free) chocolate, and some soy ice-cream.
So below is the basic recipe, alter as you wish. If you alter it with a liquid flavouring just replace some of the water with the flavouring of choice, if you use spices I would add it to the milk, then strain and add again to the water for a stronger flavour.
Okay so here we go:
Ingredients:- 2 cans of coconut milk (full fat is best)
- 1 cup loosely packed brown sugar (or to taste)
- 1 cup water
- 1.5 tablespoons of gelatine powder
Method:
Empty the coconut milk into a saucepan and place over heat, you want to warm it until it's quite hot to the touch but not boiling. Then remove from the heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
To the empty pan add your water, sugar, and the gelatine, and give it all a quick whisk to start dissolving the gelatine or it can be a bit lumpy, then place it over low heat until fully dissolved.
Once the gelatine mix is ready pour it into the warm coconut milk and stir to combine. You will know when it's well mixed because it will turn from milky white to a beige colour due to the brown sugar. Now is a good time to taste it and make sure it's sweet enough for your liking, be warned though it may not taste so sweet but once chilled it really intensifies!
Leave to sit for about 30 minutes to an hour to cool partially and then pour into either a large dish, or individual moulds or cups. If you wish to be able to invert them into bowls you will need to spray your moulds with some oil, plastic cups actually work really great because you can give them a squeeze right around and the cremes just pop out...
Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight, or if you are like me and need something sweet asap just throw them in the freezer and you will be enjoying them real soon! approx an hour should do it for ones iset in cups or individual moulds.
Enjoy!
