And All Things Nice

RECIPES & IMAGES AMBER BREMNER

If your sofa is calling, you might be in need of fortification to power through that next binge-worthy television show. These cosy winter desserts are warmed up using both ground ginger for intensity and ginger root for freshness.

BROWN RICE PUDDING WITH ORANGE GINGER SYRUP

Fragrant with ginger, orange, cinnamon and cardamom, this creamy rice pudding can be served hot, cold, or anywhere in between. I not-so-secretly adore it for breakfast. The orange ginger syrup lends brightness and sweetness and is equally good made with maple syrup or honey. Discard the orange zest if you prefer. Its bitterness pleases my negroni-loving heart, so I leave it in.

PUDDING

2 cups cooked brown rice 1 x 400ml can coconut cream 1 cup almond milk 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger 1 tsp finely grated orange zest 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp ground cardamom pinch salt

SYRUP

two strips orange zest, thinly sliced thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, finely grated ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice ¼ cup maple syrup or honey 2 tbsp water

Combine pudding ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes, until rice is very tender. It will still be quite wet but will thicken further on standing. For the syrup, use a peeler to take two strips of orange zest from an orange. Thinly slice. Grate the ginger, then squeeze its juice into a small saucepan. Add remaining syrup ingredients, then simmer for 20–30 minutes until the syrup has thickened a little. Serve pudding with a drizzle of syrup and some strips of zest if you like. Leftover syrup will keep in the fridge for at least a week.

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Amber Bremner Quite Good Food www.quitegoodfood.co.nz

Amber Bremner is the author of popular plant based food blog Quite Good Food. A champion for cooking and eating food that makes you feel good, she believes small changes in the way we approach food have the power to make a difference.

GINGERBREAD SELF SAUCING PUDDING

Self saucing pudding needs no introduction. This is an easy but delicious recipe that uses common pantry ingredients. With one exception – molasses, which brings dark complexity to the gingerbread flavours, while packing a nutritional punch as a great source of iron and calcium. Serve with vanilla icecream and watch it disappear.

DRY

2 cups self-raising flour ½ cup brown sugar 1 tbsp ground ginger 1 tsp cinnamon ½ tsp mixed spice ½ tsp ground nutmeg ¼ tsp salt

WET

1 cup almond milk ½ cup mild flavoured oil (I used grape seed) ¼ cup molasses 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated

SAUCE

2 cups boiling water ¾ cup brown sugar 2 tbsp golden syrup 2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 180°C fanbake. Mix dry pudding ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients together, then add to dry and stir to combine. Pour into a greased 8-cup capacity casserole dish. Mix sauce ingredients together until sugar is dissolved, then gently pour over the pudding (this is easiest to do with the dish already on an oven rack). Bake for 35 minutes, then allow to cool for 10–15 minutes before serving.