the everyday dessert.

Sugar is the devil. When it gets in my system (which is often) it wraps it’s long fingers around me in a death grip and convinces me that I really need salty chips and a dark syrupy coke, as opposed to something like a healthy green smoothie. Sometimes I cave under the very convincing pressure and suck down a bottle of Mexican coke telling myself that it’s ok because it’s real sugar rather than the super processed high fructose corn syrup version. But it’s not and I know better than that – especially with what I’m learning in school and from movies like Hungry for a Change.

But coke isn’t my biggest concern. Giving up sugar is a tough sell for ‘Mr. Cake For Breakfast’ or for myself for that matter.  I love, love, love dessert. Lemon squares, brownies, and cobbler – I love it all and I have absolutely no intention of saying goodbye to those friends forever.  What I am determined to do, however, is to figure out a way that I can enjoy dessert – guilt free.  I know…  Healthy desserts?  Bear with me.

This is where Christa, our amazing nutritionist, comes in. In Steve’s last session with her she instructed him to ask me to make this dessert – Cake Batter Pudding. The conversation went a little something like this:

Christa: Ask Chassie to make this dessert for you.  It’s delicious and will help satisfy your daily sweets cravings.

Steve: You mean I can eat this every night?

Christa: Yes.

Steve: Now this is a diet I can get behind.

So I set off on a mission to stock my pantry with a few key ingredients. Raw Cashews, Almond Milk, Vanilla, Coconut Butter, Liquid Stevia and Himalayan Sea Salt – not cheap but don’t let that scare you away. With one shopping trip I was able to make several batches of the pudding.

I was a little…ok a lot skeptical about creating a dessert with cashews, stevia and coconut butter but I’m always up for a challenge so I dusted off the Vitamix and went to work.

And by work I mean opening all the ingredients, putting them in a blender, whirling it into a pudding and then eating it. It took less than 10 minutes. And only 5 minutes the second time. By the third time I was creating different flavors, adding lemon zest and blueberries, raw cacao and shredded coconut and by round four I was ready to debut it at a dinner party.

For the party I decided to dress up the cake batter pudding with layers of blueberries and strawberries and then top her off with homemade blueberry balsamic jam. The result was a dessert that was decadent, rich but also light. You will lick the bowl. I promise.  Healthy desserts?  I am now a believer!

Cake Batter Pudding Parfaits with Blueberry Balsamic Jam
Download Recipe Here

Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves 4

Blueberry Balsamic Jam

Ingredients:

• 1 pint organic blueberries

• 1/4 good quality balsamic vinegar

• zest and juice of one lemon

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat for 8 – 10 minutes or until a syrup has formed.

Cake Batter Pudding

Courtesy of The Whole Journey

Ingredients:

• 1 heaping cup raw cashews, soaked for one hour and then drained

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 tbsp coconut butter (found near the nut butters in the baking isle of health food stores)

• 1/2t. dark liquid stevia

• 1/4 tsp Himalayan or Celtic sea salt
Directions:

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor. Set aside.

Build the Parfaits!

• 1 pint of blueberries

• 1 pint of strawberries sliced or diced

Put a few blueberries at the bottom of your serving dish. Add a layer of pudding then a layer of strawberries, another layer of pudding, blueberries, another layer of pudding, strawberries, and more blueberries and then a healthy spoonful of the compote.

Devour immediately. Refrigerate any leftover pudding to eat later.