Saucy couture vegan pecan pudding – a finalist recipe in the innocent Ireland Dairy Free Cook Off

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Laura Warren was a finalist in the innocent Dairy Free Cook Off with her saucy couture vegan pecan pudding using innocent dairy free almond.

Laura Warren travelled to Dublin from Kilkenny to take part in the innocent Dairy Free Cook Off.

Laura admitted her nerves were twitching in the kitchen, but that didn’t stop her having her pecan pudding in the oven in record time.

In less than an hour, consultant nutritionist Laura produced a sweet dish using innocent dairy free almond flavour. “I’m honoured to be here and taking part, to get to share my recipe with Roz Purcell – a dream,” Laura told image.ie. Laura blogs her nutrition tips and recipes over on elitelivingnutrition.com.

Here’s her finalist recipe of saucy couture vegan pecan pudding to try.

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of vegan sourdough bread
• 275g innocent almond milk (unsweetened)
• 80g vegan butter
• 80g organic natural unrefined cane sugar
• 1 can organic coconut milk
• 4 tsps flaxseed
• Pinch of Himalayan salt
• 200g pecan nuts
• 100g ground hazelnuts
• 2 tsps Taylor & College Fairtrade organic vanilla bean extract (organic)
• 3-4 tsps icing sugar
• 3 tsps cinnamon
• 35g corn starch
• 160g maple syrup
• 2 tsps raw organic cocoa powder (rich in protein, iron and magnesium)

For the homemade chocolate truffles

• 100g ground hazelnuts
• 210g vegan chocolate
• 80g innocent almond
• 1 tsp corn starch

Method for the pecan pudding

Preheat your oven to 160. Mix 4 tablespoons of flax to 12 tablespoons of water (substitute for eggs and this will enrich the entire recipe). Once mixed put it in the fridge for 10 minutes to bind it correctly. Grab yourself some kitchen towel and place a good helping of your stork block onto it and grease your baking dish with the stork to stop from sticking and this will also enrich your recipe. Now slice up your sourdough vegan bread about 1cm thick. When it’s cut, cut each slice in halves again to ensure it sits into the baking tray nicely. Now place each slice neatly but not tightly into the baking tray in a downward direction and continue until the entire tray is packed with your vegan bread. Mix 275 grams of innocent almond with 35grams of corn starch (make sure the almond flavour is nice and cold). Mix together and leave it to one side for the moment.

Pull out a large saucepan as things are about to get gooey. Place a full can of coconut milk into your saucepan. Add in 160 grams of maple syrup. Add in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon, with a pinch of salt and whisk it all around on a medium heat. Wait until it gently bubbles and then gently pour and stir your almond milk with the corn starch in and continue to stir gently. Then add your flaxseed mix and the entire sauce will being to stiffen and thicken up.

Add 200 grams of pecan nuts into a pot to toast them gently on a medium heat and keep shaking the pot so the pecan nuts don’t burn. Add 80 grams of stork with 80grams of sugar and leave it melt into the pecans but keep stirring it until it forms a lovely dark syrupy sauce. Then leave it to one side. Now pour the entire coconut sauce evenly all over the lovely vegan bread in the baking tray and make sure it’s spread out evening over each slice. Then pour the pecan sauce all over this and manipulate the pecans all around the bread so that some are hidden as a nice surprise and some can be seen. Final step, stick her into the oven on 160 for 30 minutes covered over with tinfoil and then remove the tinfoil for the final 10 minutes to allow it to brown nicely.

While the vegan bread is cooking, start making your homemade chocolate truffles.

Method for the chocolate truffles

Pour 80g cold innocent almond into a jug and add in 1 teaspoons of corn starch and stir it and put it over a medium heat, wait until it bubbles a small bit. Then remove it from the heat and add in 210g of vegan chocolate, melt it all together and add in your ground hazelnuts. Then spread the mixture out on a flat baking tray evenly enough and put it into the fridge to stiffen for 5-8 minutes.  Then get 3-4 teaspoons of cocoa powder and icing sugar and lay it out in a baking dish. Remove your mixture from the fridge and roll the mixture in ball shapes in the palm of your hand by dusting them with the icing sugar and cocoa powder. When you have about 10 balls made put it back in the fridge again to stiffen.

At this point your vegan bread should be nearly done, remove it and your chocolate truffles from the oven. Place your truffles in the centre of the pecan maple vegan pudding in a line and some of the truffles will melt into the dish. Then finally, get your serving plates out and put one helping of the pudding onto a nice plate and serve with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice-cream with a mint leaf. Dust it with some icing-sugar with a sieve.

Try: Coffee and fig muffins with innocent dairy free almond

Try: Caribbean cauliflower ocean cakes with innocent dairy free coconut

Try: Chocolate truffle cake pops with innocent dairy free coconut

Try: Vegan lemon meringue tarts with innocent dairy free almond

Follow Laura’s recipes on elitelivingnutrition.com. 

For more on the innocent dairy free range, which has four flavours: coconut, oat, almond and hazelnut, see here.