Fruit – Dr Pippa

St. Clement Hot Cross Buns

April 10, 2022Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, Light Bites & Snacks, RecipesTagged Bread, Dairy Free, Easter, Egg Free, Fruit, Fruit Cake, Hot Cross Buns, veganLeave a comment

These citrusy hot cross buns are plant-based using vegetable oil and dairy-free milk to create an enriched dough without the use of dairy and eggs.

Makes 9 buns

Ingredients

For the buns

2 oranges, zest and juice
100g sultanas
100g strong wholemeal flour
250g white strong flour
30g rapeseed oil, plus a little extra
7g yeast
30g caster sugar
50g mixed peel
2 tsp ground mixed spice
125ml milk, I have used unsweetened soya milk

For the crosses

5ml rapeseed oil
25g strong white flour
25-30ml water

For the glaze

50ml of reserved juice from the oranges
15g sugar
pinch of ground mixed spice

Method

Zest and juice the oranges, reserving 50ml of the juice for later.
Weigh out the remaining orange juice and top up to 100ml if needed with water. Add the sultanas and allow to soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
To a freestanding mixer bowl, add the flours, oil, yeast, sugar, mixed peel spices, soya milk and orange zest. Add in the orange juice and sultanas and knead for 5 minutes on a medium setting. Alternatively you can do this by hand but resist the temptation to add more flour – the dough should be ever so slightly sticky.
Lightly great a large bowl the oil, place the dough in and cover. Allow to double in size for 1-2 hours.
Knock the dough back and evenly divide into 9 balls.
Line a baking tin with baking paper and arrange the balls in a 3×3 format.
Cover and allow to double in size again, about 1-1.5 hours.
Once the dough has almost fully risen, preheat the oven to 200°C fan/ 220°C convection.
Prepare the batter by mixing the ingredients together to form a smooth pipeable mixture. Place into a piping bag.
Once the oven it up to temperature, pipe crosses over the tops of your buns.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by heating the orange juice, sugar and spices together till the sugar has dissolved.
Once the buns are cooked, generously glaze them, using all of the liquid.
Remove the buns from the tray onto a wire cooking rack, removing the baking parchment as well.
Best enjoyed fresh on the same day, or delicious toasted if a day or two old.

Per bun*: 254kcal/ 4.6g fat/ 0.4g saturated fat/ 46g carbohydrates/ 2.8g fibre/ 6.1g protein

*Analysis based on unsweetened soya milk

Watermelon Ice Lollies

August 3, 2021Posted in Dessert, RecipesTagged easy recipe, Fruit, Ice lolly, No Added Sugar, Summer, vegan, Watermelon1 Comment

A super fun way of getting one of your 5-a-day in! “Watermelon” ice lollies made for a selection of fruits, are the perfect way to say cool in the summer, and if you have kids you can get them to help make them with the blending and pouring.

Using frozen strawberries helps cool the first mixture, making it slightly quicker to add the second layer. Additionally, using the frozen strawberries means you will get slightly smaller ice crystals, as it is semi-frozen, giving a slightly better mouthfeel when you come to eat it.

You can use whatever yoghurt you like, making it vegan or dairy-free if you wish to.

Makes 4 lollies

100g frozen strawberries
200g watermelon
8 teaspoons of yoghurt of choice
1 kiwi, peeled
1/2 a splice of Galia melon

Method

Blend the strawberries and watermelon together till smooth. Pour into lolly moulds, filling them up to 3/4 full.
Freeze for 30-45 minutes.
Layer 2 teaspoons of yoghurt over the watermelon layer.
Freeze for 30 minutes
Blend the kiwi and Galia melon till smooth. Layer onto the yoghurt to the fill line.
Inset the lolly mould and freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Plum, Elderflower and Almond Crumble

May 29, 2020October 9, 2020Posted in Dessert, RecipesTagged Crumble, Fruit, Plums, Quick recipe, vegetarianLeave a comment

A delicious recipe to use plums up which may be a little to soft, or if too sharp this is sure to sweeten things up!

Serves 2

Ingredients

15g cold butter, cubed
20g plain flour
20g ground almonds
25g oats
20g caster sugar
3-4 plums (around 240g in total), stoned and cut into large chunks
4 tbsp elderflower liquor or cordial

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, 190°C convection, gas mark 5
Mix the butter, flour, ground almonds and sugar, reserving 1 tsp of sugar for later, till the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.
Add the oats in and mix.
Place the plums in an ovenproof dish, pour on the elderflower liquor, and add the crumble mixture. Sprinkle on the remaining sugar.
Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes till the plums bubble up and the crumble is golden.
Delicious served with yoghurt, crème fraîche or custard.

Per crumble: 368kcal/ 12.9g fat/ 4.8g saturated fat/ 54.8g carbohydrates/ 3.9g fibre/ 5.6g protein

Blueberry Compote

February 14, 2020October 9, 2020Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, RecipesTagged Blueberries, easy recipe, Fruit, SweetLeave a comment

Blueberries have been shown to have health benefits for our hearts. So this St. Valentine’s Day why not treat the one you love to a heart healthy meal!

In a recent study published by the polyphenol research group at King’s College London, researched demonstrated that consumption of blueberries every day helped reduce endothelial function in healthy humans. Endothelial function is a marker of heart health

In addition, the same authors noted a decrease in systolic blood pressure of around 5 mmHg, about the equivalent shown in clinical trials using medical agents to lower blood pressure.

The only caveat to this research is that the study used wild blueberries, not commercially grown blueberries, so results might not be completely comparable when using shop bought berries. However, blueberries can be part of a healthy diet and there is no reason not to include them in your diet, and in addition there are lots of other important nutritional factors found in blueberries including fibre, vitamins and minerals which contribute to a healthy diet.

My easy blueberry compote takes just 5 minutes and only uses 3 ingredients. In addition you can store it in the fridge for a week, or freeze in portions ready to use at short notice.

Recipe

250g fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tsp honey
10g chia seeds

Method

Place the blueberries and honey into a pan and cook on the lowest heat on your hob, stirring occasionally. Cook for around 4 minutes till all the blueberries have burst open.
Remove from the heat and add the chia seeds. Stir in and allow to thicken for 1 minute.

Delicious served on top of porridge for breakfast, with yoghurt for a quick pudding, or with French toast for brunch as I have done.

Per serving 115kcal/ 1.8g fat/ 0.3g saturated fat/ 41.2g carbohydrates/ 4.7g fibre/ 1.8g protein