Baked Mixed Berry Pudding with a Coconut and Almond Crumb topping

Recipes and photographs - Dr Joan Ransley

A simple, quick to prepare baked fruit pudding with an unusual topping. Ground almonds are mixed with chopped dates, eggs and a little non-dairy fat to make a not too sweet, soft crumb crust. The flavour of the berries is complimented by a pinch of ground cardamom rather than loaded with added sugar.

Berries contain naturally occurring sugars (mainly glucose and fructose), vitamins (A, C, E and folic acid) and minerals. They also contain colourful phenolic compounds that are broken down by the gut bacteria into smaller molecules that help to regulate populations of healthy gut bacteria. The fermentation of phenolic compounds in the large intestine may help to reduce inflammation in the gut through the regulation of the gut immune system. These compounds may also have a role in preventing colon cancer by regulating cell growth and cell death.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Place the fruit in an ovenproof dish measuring approximately 25cm x 20cm. Sprinkle over the ground cardamom seeds.

Mix the non-dairy fat and eggs together with a fork. It may look a little lumpy but that is okay. Stir in the ground almonds, dates, baking powder, coconut shavings and pumpkin seeds into the egg mixture until well combined. Dot the mixture on top of the defrosted berries. Spread with a fork as best you can. It does not need to look perfectly even. Bake the pudding for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.

Alternative serving suggestion

Use seasonal fruit such as sliced rhubarb, plums, blackberry, apple and peaches instead of frozen fruit.

Cooking Tips

There are several types of cardamom and they taste different. Make sure to use ‘green’ cardamom. Cardamom pods are easier to find than cardamom seeds. To remove the seeds from green cardamom pods; simply crush the whole pods, remove the seeds and then grind in a pestle and mortar.

Use butter instead of non-dairy fat if preferred.

Grinding whole almonds rather than using ready ground increases the fibre content of ground almonds. They would work perfectly well in this recipe.