As much as I’ve been enjoying eating apples and pears for the past month or so, it’s rather nice to see some more colour in the fruit department now – the season for clementines, satsumas, cranberries and pomegranate has arrived!
I’m especially fond of pomegranate and am surprised to see I only have a couple of recipes on the blog featuring it: A simple Beetroot & Pomegranate Salad and my Cabbage, Apple & Pomegranate Salad with Ginger-Almond Dressing (one of my very favourites!).
But I love pomegranate with breakfast: as a topping for non-dairy yogurt, porridge, granola, chia pudding or even pancakes. And of course it’s wonderful with all things chocolate for dessert.
Along with chocolate, coconut is my top choice for dessert (I hope it’s becoming one of yours too with all the coconutty ingredients I use in my recipes!).
I recently discovered a new coconut product - Rhythm Health‘s Virgin coconut milk. It’s very different to the canned coconut milk I’m used to which is definitely a liquid and is actually 50% (or more) water. This stuff, as you can see from the label, is 100% coconut milk, cold-pressed and with no added water. I tried some straight from the packet and nearly ate it all like that it was so good on its own. It’s super thick, a teeny bit tangy and incredibly rich.
I resisted eating the lot straight away and put it to use in a recipe…
To make this Raw Pomegranate Coconut Mousse, I infused the virgin coconut milk with some sweet and tangy pomegranate flavour using pure pomegranate juice. I used Biona Organic pure pomegranate juice which is made by pressing fresh pomegranates (and not from concentrate) since it takes quite a lot of pomegranates to get any significant quantity of juice, but you could juice your own if you have the patience. Adding the juice obviously thins out the milk somewhat so I blended in some cashews and chia seeds which together give an ultra thick, fluffy texture.
I like to layer up the mousse with some whole pomegranate arils for a little freshness and crunch to balance the creaminess. I think it looks pretty served like that too!
Ingredients
- 3/4 C Rhythm coconut milk*
- 1/2 C Cashews
- 3/4 C Pure pomegranate juice (not from concentrate)
- 3 Tbsp White chia seeds**
- 1 tsp Fresh beetroot juice***
- 1/16 tsp Almond extract (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp Coconut OR Agave nectar
- Pinch of salt
- Pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Blend together the coconut milk, cashews and pomegranate juice in a high-powered blender until completely smooth.
- Add all remaining ingredients, except pomegranate seeds, and blend again (If you don't have a high-powered blender, grind the chia seeds before adding to the blender).
- Pour mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to overnight.
- When ready to serve, place a couple of spoonfuls of pomegranate seeds in the bottom of 3-4 serving dishes/glasses/mini jars, spoon the pomegranate mousse on top and sprinkle with a few more pomegranate seeds.
Notes
* If you can’t get hold of Rhythm Virgin coconut milk I recommend using an equal quantity of coconut yogurt, or, failing that, full-fat canned coconut milk and increasing the cashews to 3/4 C and chia seeds to 1/4 C.
** I recommend white chia seeds for the best colour
*** I added a tiny bit of beetroot juice to boost the pink.
What’s your favourite way to enjoy pomegranate?
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[Disclosure: Rhythm Health kindly sent me some of their virgin coconut milk for review purposes, but I received no other compensation and, as always, all opinions are my own]