Cocolate-Raspberry Torte

This is basically a flourless chocolate cake. It's incredibly rich and dense with no leavener whatsoever and only the tiniest bit of flour. It then gets filled with a mixture of jam and mashed raspberries and "iced" with ganache. And garnished with whole raspberries and toasted almonds. It is delicious!

Chocolate-Raspberry Torte

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake

• 240g dark chocolate
• 12 Tbsp. butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. instant coffee
• 1 c. almond flour
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 5 large eggs
• 3/4 c. sugar

Filling

• 1/2 c. raspberries
• 1/4 c. raspberry jam

Decoration

• 150g dark chocolate
• 1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. sliced almonds, toasted
• ~24 whole raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
2. Grease two 20cm (8") round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper, grease the paper, and then flour the pans.
3. Melt the chocolate and the butter over very low heat.
4. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and coffee.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt and mix well.
6. Beat the eggs until lighter in colour and increased in volume (~3 minutes).
7. Gradually beat in sugar.
8. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk until not quite fully combined.
9. Sprinkle in half of the almond mixture and stir to combine.
10. Add the remaining almond mixture and finish mixing.
11. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
12. Bake at 160°C (325°F) until done and toothpick inserted in centre comes out almost clean (16-20 minutes).
13. Allow cakes layers to cool in tins for 30 minutes.
14. Turn out onto wire racks, then flip one layer onto a serving platter right-way-up.
15. Mash the raspberries and mix with the jam.
16. Spread the raspberry mixture over the top of the right-way-up cake layer.
17. Place the second layer on top upside-down.
18. Combine the chocolate and the cream and heat over low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and homogenous.
19. Pour ganache over cake and spread evenly across the top and down the sides.
20. Crush the sliced almonds and press into the sides of the cake.
21. Decorate the top of the cake with the whole raspberries, placing them evenly-spaced around the perimeter.
22. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

I'm used to making parfaits with fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola. You can vary the fruit, add different flavours to the yogurt, try different types of granola or even swap it out for something else entirely (cocoa nibs, wheat germ, graham cracker crumbs, etc.) But those are the general components that I'm familiar with. That's the formula.

This recipe takes a significantly different route.

It still layers fresh fruit with dairy and something crunchy. It just swaps out what you're actually using as your dairy and "cruncy" components.
Instead of yogurt, you beat whipping cream with marsarpone and white chocolate for your dairy component.
For the crunchy... crushed amaretti biscuits.

This all works quite well. The cheese, chocolate, raspberries, and amaretti all make for an excellent (if very rich) final dish. I'm looking forward to having the leftovers after dinner tonight! Yum!

Mascarpone-Raspberry Parfaits

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 375g mascarpone cheese
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 100g white chocolate
• 500g raspberries
• 30-35 amaretti biscuits, coarsely crushed

Directions

1. Beat the mascarpone with the cream for 10-20 seconds.
2. Gently melt the chocolate over very low heat.
3. Drizzle the chocolate into the cheese mixture while beating vigorously. Continue beating for an additional 30-60 seconds.
4. Spoon a few raspberries into the bottom of each glass. (This made 8 small parfaits of ~200mL each for me.)
5. Spoon a bit of the cheese mixture on top of the berries.
6. Sprinkle some cookie crumbs into the cheese.
7. Repeat layers until glasses are full and all of the ingredients have been used.
8. Chill until ready to serve.

I've been dragging my feet on making these muffins. It's not that they don't sound tasty. It's just that, based on the recipe, they a) don't look very filling or nutritionally complete and b) look very rich and sweet. More of a dessert than a breakfast. And I already have ample dessert recipes! But, I was running low on breakfast inspiration this morning and needed something, so I finally decided to give them a try. And they do taste very nice. But, as predicted, are not very substantial.

I do think you could improve the nutrition a bit by swapping out the white flour for whole wheat and replacing some of the butter with applesauce. They still wouldn't be healthy, but they would at least be marginally less unhealthy. I've written the recipe up to reflect those changes. Possibly something to try for next time...

Raspberry-Lemon Muffins

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 250g whole wheat flour
• 150g brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 125g fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp. turbinado sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease your muffin tin (preferably a 12-well pan with 2" diameter wells).
2. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and stir to combine.
4. Carefully mix in the raspberries.
5. Beat the beggs with the buttermilk and mix in the butter, applesauce, lemon zest, and vanilla.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin.
8. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a bit of the turbinado sugar (~1/4 tsp. per muffin for 2" muffins).
9. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20-25 minutes.
10. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

---

Variants

Blueberry Muffins with Almond Streusel

Ingredients

Muffins

• 250g whole wheat flour
• 150g brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 185g fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Almond Streusel

• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 45g sliced almonds

Directions

1. Preheat the oven (to 200°C) and grease the pan as directed above.
2. Prepare the batter as directed (with the modified ingredient list provided here).
3. For the topping: Combine the flour and sugar, then work the butter in with your fingers. Add the almonds and mix them in as well.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin and sprinkle with the streusel topping.
5. Bake as directed above.

So, full disclosure: I was in a bit of a hurry and kind of messed up this pudding. It still turned out reasonably tasty. It was just very lumpy. Since I just dumped the chia into the milk the night before and didn't both to mix it properly. Not the end of the world. Just not ideal either. So, I guess I should let that be a lesson to me to make sure to mix everything very well before I leave it to soak overnight if I'm ever making this again.

You can mix up the fruit to go with this. The original recipe calls for kiwi, blackberries, fresh apricots, pomegranate, and toasted coconut chips. I think I ended up using kiwi, blackberries, nectarines, raspberries, and toasted coconut. But you could try all sorts of things! I've included some ideas in the variations below.

Chia Pudding with Fresh Fruit

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. oat milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 150g blackberries
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 4 apricots, sliced
• 75g pomegranate arils
• 20g toasted coconut chips

Directions

1. Combine oat milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla and mix well.
2. Cover and chill for 4-24 hours.
3. Divide into four bowls, top each with 1/4 of the fresh fruit and coconut chips, and serve.

---

Variants

Strawberry-Banana

Ingredients

• 1 c. oat milk
• 2 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 150g strawberries
• 2 bananas, peeled and sliced
• 20g dark chocolate shavings

Kiwi-Mango

Ingredients

• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 2 mangoes, sliced
• 2 passionfruit
• 20g toasted coconut chips
• 20g macadamia nuts, chopped

Lemon-Blueberry

Ingredients

• 1 c. almond milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. culinary lavender
• 150g blueberries
• 1/2 c. lemon curd
• 20g slivered almonds, toasted

Blackberry-Melon

Ingredients

• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. lime zest
• 150g blackberries
• 1/4 cantaloupe, diced
• 1/4 honeydew melon, diced
• 20g pine nuts, toasted

Kiwi-Lychee

Ingredients

• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. rosewater
• 150g blackberries
• ~20 lycheefruit, peeled and halved
• 2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
• 20g slivered almonds, toasted

Cranberry-Quince

Ingredients

• 1 c. oat milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 quince, peeled and diced
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 c. apple juice
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 250g fresh cranberries
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 20g walnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

1. Combine the oat milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla extract as directed above, mixing, covering, and chilling for at least 4 hours.
2. Meanwhile, combine the quince, star anise, cinnamon stick, apple juice, and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for ~20 minutes.
4. Add the cranberries and raisins and simmer for another 20 minutes.
5. Divide pudding among four bowls, top with compote and walnuts and serve.

Chocolate-Cherry

Ingredients

• 1 c. almond milk
• 1/4 c. chia seeds
• 1 Tbsp. Dutched (alkalized) cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 400g fresh cherries, pitted and halved
• 20g slivered almonds, toasted
• 20g dark chocolate shavings

I've almost finished working my way through all the smoothie bowl recipes in the Breakfast Bible. I made this mixed berry one yesterday and tried a variation on the tropical fruit smoothie bowl this morning.

I liked this one, but the smoothie came out very soupy. The Kidlet actually prefers that, but, if I'm going to be trying to decant it into a bowl and top it with things, I prefer a slightly thicker base. If nothing else, it allows the toppings to actually sit on top rather than immediately sinking below the surface.

To be fair, the recipe does call for freezing the banana before blending, which I forgot to do. But I still think it would have been too thin. Maybe feezing both the banana and the coconut milk would do the trick?

I also didn't have any almond milk and didn't want to go out and get a carton just for this recipe.¹ Instead of almond milk, I opted for oat milk with a bit of almond butter stirred in.² And since the Kidlet doesn't like pomegranate anymore, I swapped out the pomegranate arils for some fresh blueberries.

Mixed Fruit Smoothie Bowls

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. oat milk
• 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 c. lite coconut milk, frozen in cubes
• 1 c. frozen mixed berries
• 1 banana, frozen
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. almond butter (optional)
• 1/2 c. fresh raspberries
• 1/4 c. pomegranate arils (or 1/2 c. fresh blueberries)
• 2 Tbsp. shredded coconut⁴
• 2 Tbsp. wheat germ, toasted

Directions

1. Combine the oat milk, yogurt, frozen coconut milk, frozen berries, frozen banana, honey, and almond butter in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Divide the smoothie between 4 bowls.
3. Top each with ~2 Tbsp. of raspberries, 1 Tbsp. of pomegranate arils (or 2 Tbsp. of blueberries), 1/2 Tbsp. of coconut, and 1/2 Tbsp. of toasted wheat germ.

---

¹ Especially since I find myself feeling increasingly concerned about the environmental aspects of growing almonds. I still eat them in moderation, but almond milk seems particularly water-intensive and wasteful. ^Back
2 Which I know is probably not much better than just using almond milk, but... what can I say? I already had a jar of almond butter in the fridge. I haven't had a chance to look into it, but hopefully almond butter is at least slightly less bad water and waste-wise than almond milk. That said, you still have all the ecological impact from the actual almond farming, so... it's probably not great either way.^{3 Back
3} Thinking about this stuff makes me sad and frustrated. I wish everything wasn't so complicated and I wish that it was easier to figure out the consequences of my choices. ^Back
4 I picked up some toasted coconut slices on sale a few days ago, so I just used that here. Either one will work just fine. ^Back

I decided to try another smoothie bowl recipe this morning. This one wasn't as big a success as the previous one, but I still quite liked it. Although, considering that neither the Kidlet nor TF liked it as much and that finding the açaí for it is a bit of a pain, I probably won't bother revisiting this one. Still... it was nice to try it out.

The original recipe calls for "4 packets of aça&iactue; purée". I've never seen anything like that sold in stores. But I did remember Zehr's carrying these "asana" smoothie cubes that are a mix of blueberry, açaí, and cherry. So I grabbed a package of those and figured I'd just roll with it.

I was also all out of goji berries. I keep meaning to get more, but never quite making it to the Asian supermarket to pick them up. Zehr's did have some, but they were pretty expensive. So I picked up a package of the currently on sale health food trail mix instead. It had a mix of Brazil nuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, white mulberries, rasins, ground cherries, and goji berries. Not quite the same as straight-up goji berries, I know, but I figured it was probably close enough.

Blueberries were on sale this week, so I opted to swap out the fresh strawberries (which didn't look very nice) for a couple handfulls of fresh blueberries instead. I feel like this worked quite well! (Although I forgot to add them until after TF had snapped the photo for this post.) Use either strawberries or blueberries depending on what's available.

Oh, and I guess the other change I made was to add a little bit of yogurt. I was having trouble getting the smoothie to blend and eventually added a little plain yogurt just to see if that would help... smooth things out a bit. Which did seem to work well. You may or may not need the yogurt depending on what you're using for the main, açaí, part of the smoothie.

Açaí Smoothie Bowls

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 405g Evive "asana" (or other açaí-containing frozen fruit mixture)
• 1/4 c. frozen raspberries
• 1/2 c. coconut water
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt (optional)
• 1-2 bananas, sliced
• 8 fresh strawberries, sliced or 1/4 c. fresh blueberries
• 1/2 c. granola
• 2 Tbsp. goji berries (or goji berry-containing trail mix)
• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened dried coconut
• 4 tsp. honey (optional)¹

Directions

1. Purée the smoothie cubes with the raspberries, coconut water, and yogurt (if using).
2. Pour the smoothie into bowls.²
3. If the smoothie seems too soupy, place in the freezer for 10-20 minutes to firm up.
4. Top each bowl with 1/2 a banana.
5. For small bowls, top each one with 2 strawberries or 1 Tbsp. blueberries, 2 Tbsp. granola, 1/2 Tbsp. goji berries (or trail mix), 1/2 Tbsp. coconut, and 1 tsp. honey (if using). For large bowls, double all these quantities.

---

¹ I added the honey this time, but I think I'd skip it next time. Both the smoothie and the toppings were sweet enough on their own and I didn't feel like they needed the extra sweetness from the honey. ^Back
2 The recipe says that this makes two portions, but TF and I each had ~1/4 of the smoothie this produced and I think I would struggle to each much more than that amount in a single sitting. Even the Kidlet didn't quite finish hers this time. So, I'd be inclined to consider this a four-serving recipe, not two. But follow your heart (and your appetite). ^Back

I'm way behind on write-ups and have a huge backlog of older recipes left to do, but I wanted to get this on in before I forgot. Especially since everyone liked it so much! TF and the Kidlet were both very enthusiastic about these bowls for breakfast.

The recipe as written calls for 2 c. of yogurt and 2 bananas and said it made two servings. I did this and served half of the resulting smoothie to the Kidlet and TF and I split the remaining half. So, I guess it makes either two or four servings depending on how hungry you are. Personally, I think a half serving of smoothie with a full serving of toppings is just about right for me.

The recipe below makes half as much smoothie as the original recipe (so, 1-2 servings depending on your appetite), but I've left all the toppings at their original quantities (because I like less smoothie and more everything else in my bowl). And I've actually suggested a range for the granola (because I really like granola, especially when it's a nice home-made) batch!

Protein Smoothie Bowl

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. almond butter
• 1 banana
• 1 c. raspberries
• 1/4-1/2 almond granola (or store-bought granola)
• 1 Tbsp. cocoa nibs
• 1 Tbsp. Rice Krispies

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, almond butter, and banana in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Pour into a bowl (or two) and top with raspberries, granola, cocoa nibs, and Rice Krispies.

This salad has a few variants, but we made the raspberries and blue cheese version; the others are documented below. Not a favourite, but I'd eat it again.

Marinated Beet Salad

Cook's Country October/November 2016, by Katie Leaird (p.17)

Ingredients

• 1½ lb whole beets, trimmed
• ½ C water
• ¼ C sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 2 oranges
• 1L arugula, kale, or other greens
• ¼ C shaved romano cheese
• ½ C walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Wrap beets and water in tin foil. Roast at 400°F for 1 hour or until fork-tender.
2. Whisk together vinegar, oil, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
3. Once beets are cool, rub gently to remove skins, then cut into 1cm wedges.
4. Add beets to bowl with dressing, toss to cover, and let stand for at least 30 minutes.
5. Divide oranges into individual wedges.
6. Add oranges, greens, cheese, and walnuts to bowl with beets and dressing, and toss to combine.

---

Variations

Marinated Beet Salad with Pear and Feta

Ingredients

• 1½ lb whole beets, trimmed
• ½ C water
• ¼ C sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 pear, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 L arugula, kale, or other greens
• ¾ C crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tbsp pistachios, toasted

Marinated Beet Salad with Raspberries and Blue Cheese

Ingredients

• 1½ lb whole beets, trimmed
• ½ C water
• ¼ C sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ⅔ C raspberries
• 1 L arugula, kale, or other greens
• ¾ C crumbled blue cheese
• ½ C hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

I picked up some raspberries on sale during my last grocery shop and decided to try making these little buckles with them. They were pretty nice! Although I had to play around with the baking times a bit since I was using six 250mL baking dishes rather than eight 180mL ones. That wasn't a huge issue though. They just needed a few extra minutes to finish cooking through.

Photo goes here.

Raspberry-Pistachio Buckles

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. pistachios, divided
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 c. fresh raspberries¹

Directions

1. Toast 1/4 c. of the pistachios over medium heat until fragrant (~4 minutes). Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease your ramekins. (I used six 250mL ramekins for mine.)
3. Add the pistachios to a blender or food processor and grind.
4. Add the butter, sugar, and salt and pulse to mix.
5. With blender/processor running, add the eggs, one at a time.
6. Pour in the cream and vanilla with blender still running and process until smooth.
7. Pour mixture into a bowl.
8. Add the flour and baking powder and stir to mix.
9. Add the raspberries and stir to combine.
10. Spoon mixture into ramekins and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. of pistachios.
11. Place ramekins on baking sheet and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 35-45 minutes.
12. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
13. Serve plain or with whipped cream.

---

Variations

Blackberry-Walnut Buckles

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. walnuts, divided
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 c. fresh blackberries

Cherry-Almond Buckles

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sliced or slivered almonds, divided
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 c. frozen sweet cherries, thawed (or fresh pitted sweet cherries)

---

¹ ATK notes that frozen raspberries don't work well for this recipe as they're too wet and mushy. ^Back

I wanted something fairly light for breakfast this morning. I was initially thinking of doing another batch of oatmeal, but I wanted to try something new and I didn't have the right ingredients on hand to do any of the other oatmeal recipes that I had handy. In the end I decided to keep flipping through the Breakfast Bible and see what else caught my eye.

This parfait was the first recipe I came across that I actually had all the ingredients for. And we even still have some raspberries ripening, so I figured this would be a nice opportunity to enjoy them before the season ends.

This is a pleasingly straight-forward recipe with layers of fresh raspberry sauce, Greek yogurt, blueberries, and granola. I just used the last little bit of some store-bought granola I had in the cupboard, but you could make it even more customized and special by using some homemade granola.

And, while I did have lots of fresh raspberries, I didn't have any fresh blueberries handy, so I just thawed out some frozen ones to top my parfait with.

There is some flex in this recipe too. The suggestion is to use raspberries to make the sauce and then add fresh blueberries on top of the yogurt, but the autor notes that strawberries are an acceptable alternative for the sauce layer with blackberries making up the upper layer. You still get to enjoy two different kinds of fruit and a nice colour contrast that way.

Raspberry-Blueberry Parfaits

From The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. raspberries
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 c. blueberries
• 1 c. granola

Directions

1. Mash the raspberries with the honey and vanilla to make a chunky sauce.
2. Divide the sauce between four containers. (There should be ~3 Tbsp. of sauce per container.)
3. Add 1/2 c. of yogurt to each container.
4. Layer ~1/4 c. of blueberries on top of the yogurt in each container.
5. Top with 1/4 c. of granola on each parfait.

---

Variations

Strawberry-Blackberry Parfaits

Ingredients

• 1 c. strawberries
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 c. blackberries
• 1 c. granola

I grabbed this recipe off the Weight Watchers website. I wanted something easy and relatively healthy as a little treat for dessert. Although next time I might try adding a banana either instead of or as well as the sweetener.

Cottage Cheese Chocolate Pudding

Slightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 500mL fat-free cottage cheese
• 3 Tbsp. Splenda brown sugar blend
• 8 tsp. Dutched cocoa
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 banana (optional)
• 1/2-3/4 c. raspberries

Directions

1. Add cottage cheese, sweetener, cocoa, vanilla, and banana (if using) and purée until smooth.
2. Top with raspberries and serve.

Custard Toasts

I would describe these as "ok, I guess". Symbol liked them more than I did.

Breakfast Custard Toasts

Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• ½ C yoghurt
• 2 tbsp peanut powder
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 4 thick slices of bread
• ¼ C raspberries
• 4 tsp muesli

Directions

1. Whisk together the yoghurt, peanut powder, syrup, vanilla, and egg.
2. Squish the bread slices to make a well in the top of each one.
3. Top the breads with the custard.
4. Top the custard with the raspberries.
5. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.
6. Top with muesli.

Weight Watchers billed this recipe as a "cake". Looking at it -- and tasting the results -- I would say it's more of a baked oatmeal. Although I will grant them that adding the raspberries does take it up a notch and make it feel a bit more sweet and indulgent. (I mean, it still tastes fairly lean and "wholesome", but it was enough to scratch that dessert itch for me tonight.)

I think I'd be inclined to add a little vanilla (and maybe a touch more maple syrup) next time, but it was decent overall. Especially considering that it managed to squeak through at only 2 "Points" per serving. (Obviously the Points per serving would increase if you started doing things like bumping up the maple syrup quantities, but at least this gives you a low-cost starting point.)

The recipe calls for plain Greek yogurt, but I only had regular yogurt, so my "batter" came out pretty runny. It still cooked up fine though. I think it might've been nice to add another tablespoon or two of oats to the mix, but maybe I wouldn't have wanted that if I'd been using the thicker, lower moisture Greek yogurt called for.

Microwave Baked Oatmeal

Slightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1 very ripe banana, mashed
• 1/4 c. plain (Greek) yogurt, preferably fat-free
• 2 tsp. maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. uncooked quick oats
• 2/3 c. fresh or frozen raspberries

directions

1. Mash banana and combine it with the yogurt, cinnamon, and vanilla.
2. Mix in the eggs.
3. Stir in the oats.
4. Divide mixture evenly between two mugs.
5. Microwave on high for 1 minute.
6. Stir, then microwave on high for another 1 1/2-2 minutes.
7. Top each portion with half of the raspberries and serve.

This recipe shows up in Edmonds as "Sherry Trifle". I followed that recipe but omitted the sherry. It still came out plenty moist and delicious with the added benefit of being kid-friendly.

I also didn't really weigh or measure anything for this one. I made one batch of three minute sponge (in a 9" square pan), split it and filled it with raspberry jam, and cut it into cubes. I then just tossed jammy cake cubes into the bottom of a glass bowl 'til they'd formed a nice layer and then poured a good bit of custard over top with a layer of frozen raspberries on top of it. Covered that with the rest of the cake cubes and even more custard and raspberries.

I think I must've either had more cake than the recipe called for, or a different shaped bowl because the 2 c. of custard they get you to make didn't end up being nearly enough! I ended up running out and making a second (2-c.) batch of custard. The allotted 300mL of heavy cream also wasn't nearly enough. I think used closer to 600mL -- it was half a litre + whatever was left in the other carton -- to cover the whole top of the trifle. I did whip it in the blender rather than using beaters though. And I know that generally results in a lower volume whip. But I wanted it to be stable in the fridge for several days while we ate it, so it seemed like a worthwhile trade-off.

Based on how much cream and custard I went through I'm guessing that I probably had ~400g of sponge rather than the recommended 200g. And I have no idea how much jam I used. I just spread jam on the cake until it was nicely filled. The recipe calls for 1/4 c. And, looking at the jar, I don't think 1/2 c. would be an unreasonable estimate of how much I used.

For the sake of simplicity I'm just going to copy the amounts and proportions directly from Edmonds even though I used more of basically everything. If you want a large trifle though, definitely don't hesitate to double everything!

Raspberry Trifle

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 200g three minute sponge
• 1/4 c. raspberry jam
• 2 c. fresh (or frozen) raspberries
• 1/4 c. custard powder
• 3 Tbsp. (vanilla) sugar
• 2 c. whole milk
• 300mL heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

Directions

1. Split the sponge and fill it with the raspberry jam.
2. Cut the filled sponge into cubes.
3. Place the sponge cubes in the bottom of a glass bowl (or trifle dish).
4. Add the fruit to the bowl on top of the cake.
5. Combine the custard powder with the sugar.
6. Pour in a small amount of milk and whisk until smooth.
7. Add the remaining milk while whisking to form a uniform mixture.
8. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often, until thickened.
9. Pour custard over cake cubes.
10. Chill until custard is cold or overnight.
11. Add icing sugar and vanilla to cream.
12. Whip cream using beaters for a more voluminous, but less stable topping. Whip cream using a blender or food processor for a stiffer, more stable topping.
13. Serve as is or garnish with slivered almonds and/or more raspberries.

This is actually my second time making this recipe. I did up a batch last year but never quite got around to posting it. It does make really excellent sorbet though, so I figured it was worth posting.

I'm not usually a fan of sorbets. I like the creaminess of ice cream. Sorbets are generally too icy and... just generally lackluster to really appeal to me. But, as it turns out, when you make a sorbet with a huge pile of fresh fruit (rather than juice concentrates, artificial flavours, or whatever else normally goes into a commercial sorbet) it's actually quite delicious!

Raspberry Sorbet

Slightly adapted from Chowhound

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. water
• 900g frozen raspberries, thawed
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Heat the sugar and water over medium-high heat until sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Combine raspberries and lemon juice and mash with a potato masher (or use a food processor if you have one).
3. Pour the mashed raspberries through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Use a spatula or a wooden spoon to stir and press the raspberry misture in the strainer to extract as much of the raspberry goodness as possible. (You should end up with ~2 1/3 c. of raspberry purée.)
4. Whisk the sugar syrup into the raspberry purée and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
5. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and churn. (Mine took ~25 minutes.)
6. Quickly transfer sorbet to an appropriate container and store in freezer. (It will be very soft when it first comes out of the ice cream maker, but will firm up after a couple hours in the fridge.)

---

Alternate Versions

Vegan Version

For vegan sorbet simply ensure that your sugar is vegan (and does not use bone char during processing).