Healthy Chocolate Pudding....Banana and Avocado-Free!

One of the first things that got me interested in eating a more balanced way and especially in the "clean-eating" trend, was the "healthy" desserts. I have the biggest sweet tooth, so any desserts with without butter and refined sugars sounded fantastic to me. 

I tried a couple here and there, avocado cookies and pudding and they turned out great they really did! So delicious, and you really can't taste the avocado.

But sometimes, it's fun to play around. See this below?

Yes, yes. It's not the prettiest brown splodge in the world...*poo emoji* I was planning on making ice cream with it, but I couldn't be bothered to wait for it to freeze because it tasted DELICIOUS. You'll just have to take my word for it and try it yourself.

The other major plus with this recipe? It contains no avocado and no banana, which is important in my life as I have a boyfriend who isn't the biggest fan of bananas (I'm never going to be able to make healthy banana ice cream).

The recipe is still vegan, gluten, dairy and refined sugar free.

So then WHAT THE HELL IS IN THIS?! I hear you cry!

Find out below......

The Best Healthy 3 Ingredient Pancakes!

I have seen so many 2 or 3-ingredient pancake recipes around. They seem too good to be true, pictures of fluffy pancakes, using only banana and egg. I decided to do my research and test them out for myself and see just how they turned out.

I think I created a recipe that's even better than most I've seen. They are protein packed, gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free! They have the simplest addition to the recipe that I've never seen online! Even my banana-hating boyfriend loved these pancakes. I think that says something.

23 on the 23rd

I wanted to celebrate turning 23 with a group of my absolute closest friends and loved ones. I haven't done something for my birthday in a long while, finding it really difficult to get everyone together at one time, but this year I was determined to have those I love the most around me. 

We celebrated at B-Soho, a great place for cocktails and pizzas, sofas and live music to dance and sing to. It's a good place to head before carrying on the night elsewhere.

I had the biggest smile on my face all night. I'm definitely framing some of these!

FEAST!

The day after Truckstop, I headed out on the hottest day of the year so far for another foodie fest. This time it was Feast! This was my second time visiting a Feast festival. The first was last Summer back when they had it in a hospital car park near London Bridge. That was tiny compared to the setting this year!

The great thing about Feast is that, unlike other food festivals, they not only have street food, but restaurants also grab a stall and showcase versions of their food at a fraction of the price. For instance, Flat Iron had some wagyu steak with grated horseradish at £5, Morito had little lamb chops and other goodies, there was also Spuntino, Copita, Pig and Butcher, Patty&Bun, Caravan, Mishkins and many more!!

We did two rounds and then decided to be daring and start with a lamb's heart kebab from James Iowa. I've never had lamb's heart before and it was very interesting! With a texture chewier than liver but of the same flavour, it was a very odd but interesting food. I definitely would not say no to having it again!

We then went for the octopus, creamed potatoes and paprika from Copita Tapas.
This was very nice. Ben couldn't quite get over octopus and potato together, but they were so smooth and spicy from the paprika, the textures together didn't bother me. The flavours that came together were delicious.

Other goodies on offer....

We then tried the spelt arancini balls from Monikers. These were also extremely good!!

Then it was Mishkin's for a corn dog, since neither of us really knew what a corn dog actually was!! 

It was beef (though it tasted more liek a frankfurter to me, a sausage that I detest) with a fried corn coating served with green tomato ketchup (sweeter than red, very good stuff indeed) and sauerkraut-like stuff. This I was a little disappointed by, for the fact that I'm sure I could taste a plain and simple frankfurter in the middle and I couldn't get over that flavour. When mixed with a lot of the sauerkraut and green ketchup however, it definitely brightened the whole thing up. If you don't mind frankfurters to begin with, I bet you'll love it!!

Now comes my favourite savoury for the day from Salt Yard. Chorizo with smokey aubergine and almond aoli. Also on the menu was 5 year old Iberico ham which sat proudly at the front of the stall, looking absolutely mouth-watering.

We ate it too fast for me to get a good picture, but ohmygod the strong chorizo was balanced perfectly by the incredible almond aoli, along with the sweet yet smokey aubergine. It was delicious, haven't had something that yummy for a while.

I will definitely be visiting Salt Yard very soon!!!

Unfortunately I was way too full to try them, but I really really regret not getting some ribs from the Pig and Butcher because they looked astonishing. For £5 you got huge pieces of ribs that had been marinated in dandelion and burdock. It's actually making me sad thinking about it now!!

We moved on to dessert.

Firstly was After Hours, a little pop-up dessert place I've never heard of before. I don't know why because they're tubs were incredible and brilliant value.

Doesn't look great once the chocolate sauce has been poured on top but let me tell you it was INCREDIBLE!!!

Best desserts I've had for a while. Being a chocolate lover, the chocolate was my fave. The mandarin gel was a refreshing punch of flavour amongst all the chocolate, the mousse was so very light and the marshmallow was...well. No words. Brilliant. I swiftly followed them on Twitter and I can't wait to find out where they will be next!! I shall be stalking them from now on.

The lemon and raspberry pot came a very very close second (which means a lot coming from a chocolate lover like me). The parfait was so refreshing on such a hot day and all the interesting textures and flavour combinations of the shortbread and curd came together beautifully.

I think that's what it is, it's so many textures of things in one pot that makes each mouthful exciting and so interesting and equally always delicious no matter what you get. Could not rave about them more.

As we left the guy making them said "If you come back around let us know what you thought" almost unsurely, as if they would be anything other than amazing!!

THEN we had a "Feast Cup" from Le Petit Paris. We went for strawberry and chocolate macaroons and chose refreshing ice creams for such a hot day: pistachio and mango.

A great idea and very cute too. The ice cream and sorbet were packed full of flavour. Definitely some of the best ice cream I've had!

We then lazed under a shaded bench digesting all the food with our raw natural coconut water to keep hydrated from Coco. The real thing is so much better than the bottled stuff. Could hardly bare to drink it  from a carton the next day.

Once you're done with the water they will also smash it open so you can eat the flesh on the inside, but we were waaaay too full to do that!!

We were sat right opposite Spuntino, who I noticed were doing a little PB&J ice cream sanwich with peanut butter brittle that I just couldn't miss out on. Lover of peanut butter.

Great way to finish the day!!

Trying to figure out how to eat it.....

Follow @wefeastlondon on twitter or visit their website wefeast.co.uk to find out when and where the next Feast will be taking place. I highly recommend everyone to go!! It's the best day of food you'll have for a while.

York Day 4: York Cocoa House

York Cocoa House looks like it has been in York for years and years. In reality, it only opened last year. As you can probably tell from the name it serves a lot of chocolatey treats, in the form of their signature hot chocolate, milkshakes, brownies and cakes and even some savoury dishes with chocolate. It also sells it's own homemade chocolates and truffles and also does some chocolate making classes, which I would love to try at some point. Great idea for a day out.

The shop and cafe is styled like it's from the Victorian era. The lovely, friendly staff wear little aprons and tunics and the menus are big wooden boards.

If you're after something more substantial, they serve a very interesting lunch menu, all including some kind of chocolate, with treats such as goat's cheese and red onion pizza - with a chocolate ganache, or smoked salmon, with white chocolate and wasabi cream.

I have tried many a brownie here. They do all sorts, with chocolate chunks, with maltesers, caramel and orange among many more. They do lots of cakes, including an incredible stout and chocolate cake! Now, I'm not fan of beer, but this rich, gooey, fudgey cake with a hint of something that came from the beer left me gasping for more! They are all homemade and in never ending supply, as they are constantly coming out of the kitchen with more. The hot chocolate is rich and full of chocolate flavour, made with real chocolate pieces, however not too thick like many hot chocolates can be.

I visited recently and went for something I've never tried before, a white chocolate and lemon  tart. As you can see from the picture below, it was very soft, moist and had a wonderful punch of lemon flavour. It was more of a lemon tart, with a very subtle flavour of white chocolate running through. Their coffees come with some kind of chocolate as standard, usually a homemade chocolate button, but this time they gave me a whole homemade truffle! 
Although hot chocolate is their signature drink, they do not forget about their coffee; they serve a lovely, strong coffee.

After only being in York for a few months this has already become my go-to cafe in York. It never runs out of brownies and cakes at the end of the day if you are wanting a late coffee, unlike some other cafes in York. Being a chocolate lover, the cakes never fail to disappoint, which is the main reason I keep returning, it is chocolate heaven.

York Day 2: Mannion & Co Cafe

For breakfast the next day I headed to Mannion, a cafe I had heard of and walked past quite a few times staring lovingly at their cakes and pastries, but never managed to make it in. They are right next to York Cocoa House and their brownies usually get me before I even have a chance to check out Mannion. The times I have tried to get cake here they were all gone by the time I got there! The sign of a good cake I feel.

A deli counter at the front lures you in with gorgeous home made bread tumbling out of baskets and an array of cakes, pastries and enormous meringues and also cured meats and cheeses of nearly every kind you could ever wish for.

Extremely friendly staff greeted me and saw to it that I was well looked after. I ordered a much needed coffee that came in lovely china. I'm sure I've seen this in John Lewis. Or a market stall in Germany. #ChinaFiend. It also came with a lovely little cardamom biscotti! One of the nicest things I've ever been given free with coffee.

I ordered the perfect hangover cure: Yorkshire rarebit - oh hell yes with bacon - on sourdough.

The bacon is hiding under all the melting cheese.

They were not stingy with their portions, this managed to fill me up for the entire day. A tomato chutney on the side was tangy and strong, a great accompaniment to the smoothness of cheese and bacon. I just wish I had a bit more of it than what was in the tiny pot!!

I still remember this amazing plate of food. So simple, yet honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten and all for the incredibly low price of £7! I felt so gluttonous but it was homely and delicious. The cafe itself had a great buzzing, bustling atmosphere with the exposed kitchen (I love seeing chefs work) and cosy interiors.

As I left I finally ordered my cake to go, a very hard task seeing as I wanted a piece of EVERYTHING on display. I went for 3 - yes 3 though I did share them!! - and they did not disappoint. I wish I had been in there many more times now! The brownie was exquisite. It was so fudgey and moist and I was so shocked and delighted to find they had raisins inside!! My absolute favourite. I bake my own brownies with raisins and have never come across a brownie from a cafe with them. People are too afraid I think that punters won't like them. Cafe's of Britain, it's ok. I'll eat them all instead if I have to. It's the right thing to do.
The flapjack was unlike any flapjack I have ever tasted before! The texture was more dense and cakey than a standard oaty one. Which was fantastic! Different levels of flavour was created with the different dried fruits and whole nuts inside. And it was all topped off with a slice of rhubarb that had been caramelised, or something similar. I'm not usually a fan of rhubarb but this was so sweet with a punch of sour coming later.
The blackberry and almond tart was yummy too. My least fave of all 3, or maybe I should say that for me it was not as incredible as the other two because that makes it sound like I didn't like it. However, I did feel the pastry was a little dry, but then tarts aren't usually my thing. The filling was delicious though.

I enjoyed all this so much, I brought my friend and her sister along the next day for a spot of cream tea. Needless to say the scones, jam and cream were all amazing and the tea I chose was very interesting, one of a number of interesting speciality loose leaf teas they do.

On my last day, I headed there to grab one of their sandwiches I had noticed on their blackboard from previous visits. I got the fennel salami and tallegio cheese on fig and walnut bread. I'm not sure if the bread came as standard, or I was given fig and walnut because they didn't have any other kind left, but I was very impressed. Needless to say, I think you can guess it was incredibly delicious. It was also HUGE, I might add. To take-away, this came to a whopping £3.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S THE PRICE OF AN M&S SANDWICH!! Now don't get me wrong, I do love my M&S sandwiches, but for the same price I can get a homemade sandwich, with much more interesting and high quality fillings, that is double the size and all on artisan bread! It is unthinkable I that I have wasted all my time lusting after M&S goods when I should have been here all along.

I am honestly so disappointed that I didn't discover this place sooner, it had been right under my nose for so long. Had I stepped into this cafe sooner I'd probably have many more great memories in York and would have eaten a lot more great food!!