Warm Peach Pudding

Baked Peach Pudding Fooderati

Everybody needs a simple, please everybody pudding you can quickly throw together when entertaining, or just because. This baked pudding is part cake, part cobbler, with golden, almost crunchy bits on the outside and fabulously crumbly and cakey on the inside. And the best bit is you can use any fresh or tinned fruit you like. You could even swirl a few spoons of your favourite jam in, instead! 

Batter

125g butter, softened 

125g caster sugar

2 large free range eggs

125g self raising flour 

Pinch of salt 

Syrup

2 tablespoons brown sugar 

120ml water

1 vanilla pod

Fruit of choice, I used 3 large fresh peaches, but you could you can use almost any fruit you like. Stone fruit, citrus, pears or poached quinces work well. 

Method 

Preheat oven to 180c. Meanwhile, combine the butter, sugar and eggs in a stand mixer and whisk until thick and glossy. Sift in flour gradually and combine thoroughly. 

Thoroughly combine the syrup ingredients in a saucepan, add the fruit and poach over a medium heat for 5 minutes, tossing the fruit around so that it is evenly covered in the syrup. Transfer most of the poached fruit and a spoonful of the syrup to a lightly greased and floured baking dish. Spoon the batter over the top of the fruit and shake the pan a little bit so that everything settles evenly. Add the rest of the fruit on top, nestling it in a little. 

Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before serving. Serve warm with whipped cream, custard or ice cream. 

4 Ingredient No Bake Coconut Crack Bars

As seen on Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield and Melissa Leong

As seen on Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield and Melissa Leong

A new year rolls around, as does the guilt for potentially overdoing it between Christmas and New Years, even though it's probably worth the argument that it's really what you eat between New Years and Christmas that's more important. 

But anyway, I digress. Once the sugar high from all your favourite end of year desserts comes to an end (personally, I'm a pavlova and trifle girl), here's a slightly more virtuous afternoon tea accompaniment that's vegan as well as gluten, refined sugar and dairy free...but be warned, they are called Crack Bars for a reason. There is zero baking involved and the base recipe is just 4 ingredients (I don't count salt), which you can add your favourite toppings or ingredients like pepitas and raw chocolate (pictured), cacao nibs, dried fruit, etc. Enjoy! 

Ingredients

1 cup dessicated coconut

1/4 cup maple syrup (honey will work, but isn't vegan if that matters)

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch sea salt

Optional: a handful of pepitas, raw chocolate to drizzle. 

Method

Place the dessicated coconut into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the melted coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dessicated coconut, along with a good pinch of sea salt and combine well. At this stage, you can add any additional  ingredients you like, for example, a handful of chopped nuts, cacao nibs, pepitas, or dried fruit.

Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper and press the mixture into a level rectangle shape, alternatively you can use silicon ice cube moulds. Freeze the pressed mixture for 10-20 minutes until set, then slice into portions, or pop out of the mould, if using. If you want to drizzle a little melted chocolate (raw or otherwise, I don't discriminate), this is when you'd do that (and let's be honest, when is a little extra chocolate a bad idea?).

Store refrigerated.