SUMMER seems so near after a set of sunny Easter days... In El Piano restaurant we hear people talking of their holidays and inevitably of wanting to get fitter, slimmer and just generally prepare themselves for being out and about doing, instead of being stuck indoors sitting. So they think about reducing fat and sugar... El Piano founder, Magdalena Chávez takes us through a couple of great healthy desserts that bring all the taste of summer, with no added sugar and hardly any fat...
 

POKÉ - originally street food from Indonesia, this is a fast and delicious combination of tropical flavours, so easy to make and suitable for anyone trying to avoid refined sugar.

Peel and break up 8 large bananas in a bowl

Add a slight pinch of cinnamon

1 (200g) block of creamed coconut

Hot water (to soften the coconut) up to the ‘shoulders’ of the bananas - in other words some of the bananas need to be above the water line

Whizz

Pour into a 1500 ml pie/quiche mould lined with desiccated coconut

Bake in a medium oven for 30-40 minutes or until the poké is solid

Serve hot or cold

The science is: coconut is a natural thickener when heated and bananas sweeten when heated. Additionally, remember the riper the banana the sweeter the fruit.


FRESH FRUIT TART

This is essentially layers of finely sliced fruits nestled with any berries you like and then all ‘glued’ together with berries that have been whizzed with corn flour and then cooked.

Use a 1500 ml pie/quiche mould and line the bottom with anything you like... desiccated coconut as above, squashed berries, a thin sprinkling of polenta, chocolate chips, grated orange rind...

Layer into it thick slices of contrasting coloured fruits: banana, orange, kiwi, and in and amongst press some berries, blue, black or red. Stop when the mould is full.

Whizz up 2 punnets of strawberries or raspberries, or 1 of each, with 2 TBL cornflour and 250-300 ml water.

Cook the mix until thickened and then pour over the fruit in the pie/quiche dish. Chill the pie. Cut and serve.

The science is: corn four is a natural thickener when heated and also becomes clear. The red of the fruit and the white of the cornflour create an attractive pink tinge. The layers of fresh fruit are held in place while themselves remaining uncooked with more vitamins and a fresher taste.

 

* El Piano is a wholly plant based and wholly gluten-free eatery. We use no palm oil or solid mixed fats, neither do we use nuts, except coconut, nor seeds, except sesame. Cookbooks, information about cook classes and free recipes can be found on el-piano.com or on el-piano-cookschoolcom