I’m going to be honest here. I’m not having a great fortnight (for anyone from the USA – a fortnight is 2 weeks). I’m more sore than normal, I’ve had more headaches than normal and I’m tired. The thing is, when a FibroWarrior (or anyone with a chronic illness) says they are tired, it’s more than just needing a nap or a cup of coffee.
“I’m tired” really means I’m exhausted. Just the effort of holding my head up in order to watch TV or crochet is draining. I’ve got to decide if drinking that delicious cup of Crio Bru is really worth the fact that I’m going to have to get up in order to go to the toilet later. Getting in and out of the bath is a massive effort and going downstairs and back up again? think rock climbing with a hangover. The FibroTroll is really having fun at the moment.
I had to make my knight work from home one day this week as I was really struggling to do anything. I needed help getting food, having a bath, getting in and out of my hyperbaric oxygen chamber – almost everything really.
What makes it worse is due to my current dietary restrictions, I can’t even have a pity party and eat a packet of chips and a bar of chocolate. So imagine how pleased I was to discover that there was still some GAPS friendly mango pudding in the freezer!
I mentioned this pudding in my last post and promised the recipe, so I had to make it again (just to test of course!) and luckily there was still some in the freezer when I needed a treat to cheer me up.
Here is the promised recipe:
Mango and coconut pudding. (Makes 4 large or 8 small servings)
- 2 ripe mangoes – about 400-450g of mango flesh
- 1 (400g) tin coconut cream
- 2 tbsp honey (or to taste)
- 3 egg yolks – beaten lightly
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp grass-fed gelatine
Now, I’m lucky enough to have a Tefal Cuisine Companion, so for me it is super easy to make this (I’m sure it will work in a thermomix too, but I haven’t tried), but I will include directions for those who don’t have any sort of thermal blender.
- Peel mangoes and remove skin, blend until smooth (if you don’t have a blender, then chop it really finely, you might get some chunks of mango in your dessert, but it won’t affect the flavour). (CC- ultrablade, speed 10, 20 sec, scrape down half way through if needed). Skip this step if you want there to be chunky bits of mango in your pudding.
- Blend a small amount of the coconut cream with the gelatine – this will help avoid clumps, then place all ingredients into a saucepan. Mix well and cook over a low heat for 8 mins stirring regularly. Make sure the gelatine is completely dissolved. (CC – add remaining ingredients to mango in the bowl, dessert setting, speed 6, 8 mins, stopper out.)
- Transfer mixture into ramekins or pretty dessert bowls or whatever you like. Allow to set in the fridge.
- Serve with extra slices of mango and toasted coconut, or just eat as is. It freezes and defrosts perfectly, so you can save some for later if you manage not to eat it all at once!
This recipe also works beautifully with peaches and cinnamon – double the amount of peaches, as they are usually much smaller than mangoes. I imagine that it will work well with other fruits like berries – if you try it please let me know!
