BAKED APPLE AND STRAWBERRIES WITH COCONUT AND CAROB BARK

Yummy and healthy food doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated! This took a grand total of 30 minutes (except the coconut yoghurt which I made myself (see below) but can you also buy). You can also make each bit separately.

I used to be a pudding (as you call it in the UK) fiend. Now I still like to serve something sweet for dessert when friends or family come for dinner and this is a great go to. Still sweet with the apples and berries, but it has no refined sugar in it, and blood sugar regulation is supported by eating the healthy fats with it (coconut yoghurt and coconut oil in carob).

For the chocolate element, I like to use carob which doesn’t have the stimulating impacts that cacao can have and doesn’t need any additional sweetener. You can buy carob from the health food store and it is really easy to make at home in a few minutes. If you don’t fancy this you can use a good quality dark chocolate - at least 70%.

Let me know how you get on below!

INGREDIENTS (per person, scale up as required)

  • apples of choice (1 per person)

  • 4 strawberries cut into thin slices or other berries

  • 1 - 2 cubes of +70% dark chocolate or homemade carob chocolate (see recipe below)

  • 2 tablespoons of coconut yogurt (homemade optional - see below)

METHOD

  1. Heat oven to 180C

  2. Make the carob bark (if applicable)

  3. Wash and dry your apple(s) and remove the core using a sharp knife or a de-corer tool

  4. Fill the middle of the apple with the sliced strawberries - pack them in! Save the remainder.

  5. Place on a baking tray and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until the skins of the apple are soft and you can put a knife through the flesh. For the last 5 minutes add a cube of chocolate to the top of the apple - if using carob, add this to the plate afterwards (it will melt too much on top)).

  6. Place a generous dollop of coconut yoghurt on serving plates with shards of carob bark and some of the left over fresh strawberries.

  7. Place the baked apples on the coconut and voila!

HOMEMADE COCONUT YOGHURT

Coconut yoghurt is surprisingly easy to make. I use the Kultured Wellness starters which are great quality and super easy to use. They make your yoghurt a probiotic powerhouse which your gut will love you for and you can use the mixture over and over again to make more coconut yoghurt.

Ingredients

  • 1 Kultured Wellness starter

  • 2l of Ayam coconut cream

Method

  1. Mix ingredients together in a glass bowl using non metal cookware.

  2. Place into a clean jar.

  3. Leave for 12-24 hours out of direct sunlight to ferment.

  4. Store in the fridge when done.

CAROB BARK

Like chocolate but without the stimulating impacts of cacao. Plus full of zinc and potassium and naturally sweet too. I like mine plain, with a few drops of peppermint oil in or with a mixture of seeds and coconut. The world in your oyster.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of coconut oil

  • 2/3 cup carob

  • A choice or mixture of:

    • Peppermint oil (approx 3 drops)

    • Coconut flakes

    • Sunflower seeds

    • Pinch of salt

    • Mixed berries

Method

  1. Place wax paper on a plate or baking tray

  2. Heat coconut oil until just melted. You don’t want it too hot

  3. Add carob and stir with a whisk. Add toppings of choice and mix

  4. Pour onto wax paper and put into freezer for 15 minutes or so to set

  5. Break into pieces

  6. Store extra in fridge