Almond Milk Archives - Coconut and Berries

Vegan Baked Custard Tarts

Baked custard tarts were one of my family’s favourite sweet treats growing up and my brothers and I must have eaten hundreds between us! Unfortunately they’re very far from being vegan since the main ingredients include eggs, butter and milk/cream.

For a long while it didn’t even cross my mind to try a vegan version, thinking it would be impossible to come anywhere close to the original, but curiosity got the better of me and a couple of tries later I had a vegan (and gluten-free!) version cracked!

These taste very similar to the custard tarts of my youth. The pastry is a little thick and the custard a little scarce in the ones pictured but I’ve since made them again with a more typical ratio and they were even better.

For the recipe, head on over to Vegan Miam where I’m guest-posting today. I’m sure most of you are familiar with this beautiful vegan food and travel blog already but if not, make sure you have a good browse while you’re there!

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The Milk Maker from Hopps & Woolf, Giveaway + Cinnamon & Coffee Bean Smoothie

I do think it’s fantastic that the world is beginning to connect the dots, recognizing that not everyone wants to drink dairy and responding with new non-dairy milks popping up on supermarket shelves left, right and centre. But unfortunately most of these boxed milks aren’t all that fantastic nutritionally-speaking.

Did you know that most store-bought almond milk contains less than 2% almonds? And of course there are usually a bunch of added ingredients – including sugar, gums, preservatives and things I don’t even recognize. All fine and dandy for a convenience product every now and again but not really something I want to be consuming day in day out.

Making your own non-dairy milk at home means you can control what goes in it and it tastes far far better too.

There is one drawback to making your own and that’s that it goes bad very quickly – lasting for only about 48 hours.

That’s why The Milk Maker from Hopps & Woolf is a real game changer. This nifty piece of equipment makes non-dairy milk that lasts up to 5 days (mine’s actually still been fine after 7 days)! Along with blending the nuts and water, it gently heats and pasteurises the resulting milk which is what means it keeps better than my usual homemade nut milk. It tastes just as good too.

At first I was slightly concerned that heating the milk would make it less nutritious but reasoned that if the Milk Maker is going to make it easier for me to always have fresh nut milk in my fridge and not have to resort to the bought stuff with all the unnecessary added ingredients, then I’m not too worried about any damage a little heat is doing. I’ve been using my Milk Maker for a month now and haven’t bought a single carton in that time.

The Milk Maker is refreshingly easy to use too. You just add your soaked nuts/seeds to the machine with fresh water, hit the “milk function” button and let it do its thing for 20 minutes. After the time is up, you strain your milk through the sieve provided or a nut milk bag, and voilà! Fresh nut milk to bottle up and keep handy for drinking on its own, pouring over cereal, making smoothies, using in baking and cooking, and however else you like to use it.

You can use any nuts or seeds in the Milk Maker or even soy beans, brown rice or oats for other non-dairy milk options. If you’re curious, have a watch of this video the boys behind the company have put together to show the Milk Maker in action!

Hopps & Woolf have kindly allowed me one Milk Maker to give away! Enter the giveaway via the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post to be in with a chance. (UK ONLY)

It’s getting chillier now so I haven’t been making many smoothies lately but I got the urge to the other day and and came up with this Cinnamon & Coffee Bean Smoothie.

I’m not a big coffee drinker, and I used to only like it when combined with chocolate (!) as in my Healthy Mocha Hazelnut Shake, but I have been warming to it more recently and a sweet creamy cinnamon & coffee smoothie was sounding really good. I don’t have any instant coffee at home and didn’t want to brew a pot only to use a small amount, then it occurred to me that I could throw whole coffee beans into my blender! It worked a treat and my blender blitzed them up completely. I’m sure my homemade almond milk made it all the more delicious too.

Cinnamon & Coffee Bean Smoothie

Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients

2 C Almond milk (preferably homemade)
1 Tbsp Chia seeds
1 Tbsp Lucuma (optional)
5-10 Whole coffee beans
1/2 Frozen banana (optional)*
1 Medjool Date, pitted
2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Pinch of vanilla powder

Instructions

Blend together all ingredients in a high-powered blender. Serve immediately.

Notes

* If omitting the frozen banana, add a small handful of ice to chill the smoothie. You may also want to add an extra date or your favourite sweetener to boost the sweetness a touch.

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/11/17/milk-maker-hopps-woolf-giveaway-cinnamon-coffee-bean-smoothie/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more info about the Hopps & Woolf Milk Maker, visit their website.

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[Disclosure: Hopps & Woolf kindly sent me one of their Milk-Makers for review purposes, but I received no other compensation and, as always, all opinions are my own]

Plum & Ginger Smoothie

Another smoothie today! I never used to be a smoothie person and always preferred chewing my food, but somewhere along the line that changed and smoothies are now an almost daily occurrence around these parts. Maybe that will change once the weather turns…but right now I’m happy to be enjoying smoothies and the first of autumn’s fruit all in one go!

These are the lovely plums from our baby tree last year-almost all eaten by me I think. If you’re not a smoothie person, or even if you are, you should also try my Maple-Oat Plum Crumble recipe from back then.

I haven’t received any plums in my fruit and veg deliveries from home so I’m guessing I lucked out and they’re all finished. Fortunately, there are still plums at the farmers’ markets and shops around here (and I’m sure if you live in the countryside there are plenty of foraging opportunities to be had too) so I haven’t missed out altogether.

The Victoria plums I used here are quite sweet and fairly mild in taste, but blended with banana, homemade almond milk, dates and a little ginger ( yes, again. I’m going though a ginger phase obviously…) you have a lovely creamy, just-fruity-enough smoothie which makes a great light breakfast or snack.

I think the colour’s rather pretty too!

Homemade almond (or another neutral nut) milk is pretty essential here for the best taste as the creaminess really makes this smoothie. and you just don’t get that from the commercial kind. If you haven’t yet made your own nut milk, please please do try it! It’s not difficult or time-consuming at all- you just need to remember to soak the nuts overnight. Follow the instructions in my Healthy Mocha-Hazelnut Shake post, using almonds instead of hazelnuts.

Plum & Ginger Smoothie

Yield: 1 Serving (or 2 small)

Ingredients

1 Frozen banana, chopped
1/2 C (heaping) Ripe pitted plums
1 C Homemade almond milk (See note above)
1" Pc Peeled, fresh ginger
1-2 Medjool dates, pitted

Instructions

Blend everything together in a high-powered blender until completely smooth.
Serve immediately.

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/09/11/plum-ginger-smoothie/

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Ginger Choc Crunch Smoothie & Introducing Froothie!

I’m very excited to introduce you to a new company today- Froothie! Froothie is actually an Australian company, which, after its huge success over there, launched in Europe a few months ago with its Optimum range of blenders and juicers.

No doubt you will have heard of the Vitamix and Blendtec high-powered blenders, but Froothie’s Optimum 9400 is a new and very serious competitor. It rivals both with greater speed and power (I previously owned a Blendtec so I can say that in full honesty!), and best of all, a much more accessible price.

Check out these specs:

Pretty impressive, no?

Other things I like about it are that the jug is BPA-free, it’s easy to clean, comes with a tamper (perfect for blending ultra-thick purées), it even has little cable clips which means it’s neat and tidy on the countertop. Oh, and delivery is crazily quick too- If you’re in the UK, you can expect to receive your blender 24-48 hours after you place your order.

I use my blender every single day! You CAN probably get along just fine with a basic blender for most things but it may not blend vegetables like kale or fruit like dates as smoothly as you’d like.

A high-powered blender also opens up a lot of fun possibilities so you can’t help but eat healthily! These machines can pulverize whole grains into flours, blend up super creamy sauces from nuts and seeds, turn nuts into nut butter in minutes and blend even the hardest vegetables into soup.

(Comes in Black, Silver, White and Red)

Consider a high-powered blender as an investment in your health! And if you’re burning out one cheap blender after another then you’ll probably actually save money by buying one that will last (Note the 10 year warranty on the Optimum 9400).

I also love that Froothie’s no.1 mission is helping people to lead a healthier lifestyle. The Optimum 9400 actually comes with a recipe book of quick and easy raw vegan recipes- Smoothies/shakes, soups, dressings, sauces, savoury dishes and desserts! They’re also one of the Vegan Society’s sponsors- definitely a company I’m happy to support.

Check out this video to see the blender in action!

The first Froothie recipe I’m sharing is this delicious Ginger Choc Crunch Smoothie! It’s a real treat but, like most of my smoothie recipes, is definitely healthy enough to start your day with.

If you remember my Double Ginger Dark Choc Chunk Muffins, you’ll know that I love ginger and chocolate together. This smoothie has a sweet and creamy base made from pear, raw cashews, almond milk, gooey caramel-like dates and a good dose of fresh ginger.

The Optimum 9400 pulverizes those dates into oblivion in no time!

I then used the pulse setting to partially grind the bitter cacao nibs to leave some chocolatey crunch.

Cacao nibs are made from pure cacao beans that come straight out of the tropical cacao fruit.They have an amazing nutritional profile and a strong, dark flavour with just a touch of sweetness. I love them!

Ginger Choc Crunch Smoothie (Raw, Vegan)

Yield: Approx 24 oz/750 ml (1 large or 2 medium servings)

Ginger Choc Crunch Smoothie (Raw, Vegan)

Ingredients

1 Heaping C chopped, ripe pear (1-1/2 Medium)
3 Medjool Dates, pitted and chopped
1/4 C Raw cashews
1-1/2 C Almond milk
1-1/2" Fresh ginger
1 C Ice
2 Tbsp Cacao Nibs

Instructions

Blend the pear, dates, cashews, almon milk and ginger in a high-powered blender until completely smooth.
Add the ice and blend again.
Finally, add the cacao nibs and pulse to partially break down.
Serve immediately.

Notes

* If you want it more chocolatey, add a couple of Tbsp raw cacao powder as well!

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/08/06/ginger-choc-crunch-smoothie-introducing-froothie/

You can buy the Froothie Optimum 9400 at the special introductory price (limited time only!) of £329.00. Compare that to the current market leaders which retail for between £500 and £600!

Froothie are also offering Coconut and Berries’ readers an additional 2 years warranty, free of charge, on any optimum appliance purchased with the coupon “Special Ambassador Offer”.

*Note: Froothie ship worldwide at UK delivery costs - no extra charge

Check out Froothie TV on YouTube for video reviews and recipe demos and follow along on Facebook and Twitter for updates and more recipe ideas.

[Disclosure: I was sent a free Optimum 9400 blender for review purposes. This post also contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through Coconut and Berries, I will get a small commission. Thank you for your support!]

Cherry-Coconut Almond Pulp Granola

I’ve never been a milk drinker. Many moons ago when I was at primary school, every day we were given cartons of milk at morning break-time and I have very vivid memories of doing my best to get away without drinking it. I hated the stuff.

Nearly 20 years later and vegan, you definitely won’t find dairy milk in my fridge, but I do now love drinking non-dairy milk! I’ll happily drink a tall glass plain but it also goes in my almost-daily smoothies, baking, breakfasts and more.

Homemade non-dairy milk is far superior to the kind you find in the shops and I try and keep a bottle/jug of it in the fridge at all times. If you’re new to homemade non-dairy milk, see my post here for instructions on making your own.

Besides the creamy milk you get from making your own, there’s also the bonus of the leftover nut/seed pulp. This doesn’t have to be simply thrown away and can be turned into all sorts of other tasty things. Last year I shared my recipe for Raw Cacao, Coconut & Raspberry Cupcakes which make use of leftover almond pulp, but more often than not what I make with it is granola!

After making a batch of milk, squeeze out the pulp until it’s very dry and store in a container in the freezer until you have enough to put to use. It should be very dry and crumbly as pictured above.

I’ve made all sorts of flavour variations of this breakfast cereal/snack but decided to share my latest: Cherry-Coconut Almond Pulp Granola.

One of my testers said it reminded her of broken-up cookies and I so agree! It’s chewy like a coconut macaroon. Incredibly moreish and dangerously addictive!

Have fun playing with different dried fruit and nut mix-ins. I’m thinking of trying a chocolat-ey variation next!

Cherry-Coconut Almond Pulp Granola

You could even keep this granola completely raw and dehydrate it instead of baking if you're lucky enough to own a dehydrator.

Ingredients

2 C (approx 200 g/7 oz) lightly packed almond pulp, from making nut milk*
1/3 C Almonds, chopped lengthwise into slivers
1/3 C Shredded coconut
1/4 tsp Salt
4 Tbsp Coconut oil
1/3 C Brown rice syrup*
Zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/3 C Dried cherries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 150C/300F.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond pulp, chopped almonds, coconut and salt.
In a small pan, heat the coconut oil, brown rice syrup, lemon zest and juice and vanilla over low heat, until melted together.
Add the liquid ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir well to combine everything. The mixture will look quite wet.
Spread the mix in a thin layer on a baking sheet (or two) and bake for 30 minutes, undisturbed. After 30 mins give it a stir, breaking it up into clumps. Continue to bake, checking and stirring every 15 minutes, until fully dry and crisp- up to 1 hour.
Note that it does crisp up a little more on cooling.
Leave to cool completely then stir in the dried cherries.
Serve with non-dairy yogurt or milk, sprinkle on smoothies or eat by the handful as a snack.

Notes

* If your almond pulp is not fully dry, before proceeding to the steps above, spread out the pulp on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 150C/ 300F OR dry using a dehydrator.

* I have only tested this recipe with brown rice syrup. I imagine other liquid sweeteners would work but note that brown rice syrup is stickier and less sweet than agave/coconut nectar or maple syrup.

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/07/01/cherry-coconut-almond-pulp-granola/

Do you make your own non-dairy milk? What do you usually do with the pulp?

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