Desserts,  Recipes

Apricot Pudding Pies Sprinkled with Calendula 😊

You know how when you’re on a roll, you just have to go with it?  Well I’m on one of those rolls, a pie/tart making roll.  The creation of this pie took a couple of days of trial and error.  In the end this recipe came out so well!   In this recipe there is no additional sugar besides what’s in the dried apricots.  This recipe is plant based, gluten free, nut free and refined sugar free.  This dessert is inspired by the flavors of India.  Also a fruit which doesn’t get a lot of attention but is packed with loads of nutrients….the almighty apricot.

The Inspiration:
Lately I’ve been studying the list of high lysine, low arginine foods.  I’m trying my best to have more of a balanced food intake.  Which means eating more foods with higher levels of lysine.   Eating higher levels of lysine has been shown to be helpful at preventing shingle flare ups which is what I suffer with.  So while looking at the list I noticed apricots had a significant amount of lysine to arginine.  It’s one of the only fruits that has such a big lysine to arginine ratio.  Being that it’s a fruit I have rarely or if ever have eaten, I decided to do some research on apricots.
According to Wikipedia, there’s some dispute as to whether the origin of apricots dates to the China region or to India, regardless of the origin, apricots have been around since ancient times.  Egyptians dried apricots and made a drink using them, in ancient times dried apricots were a major commodity in Persia.  In Armenia the apricot has been cultivated for centuries and to this day is their national fruit.

Apricots

Raw apricots have wonderful nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin E, Calcium, Iron and Zinc. However when apricots are dried these nutrients practically double in nutritious value.  For example a raw apricot has 13 mg of calcium, dried that same apricot has 55 mg of calcium!   And for those who are watching their arginine intake like me, the lysine level of dried apricots is 334 mg with the arginine level only being 187 mg. (1)

The recipe

Reading about apricots started my creative juices flowing as to how I could create a dessert using dried apricots.  So I decided to hydrate dried apricots to make a pudding.  Then I thought why stop there, lets bring some India spices like cardamom, add it to a quinoa crust and turn the pudding to a pie.  And because I’m loving the herb calendula (see why here), I decided to sprinkle a little bit on top of the pudding pie to add some herbaceous deliciousness.

 

I’m really happy as to how this recipe came out.  The pudding is creamy and the crust has great texture due to the quinoa flakes and chickpea flour.  The overall results being a delicious, nutritious, sweet treat to be eaten anytime of the day.

Apricot Pudding Pies

AuthorDesireeCategory, DifficultyIntermediate

In this recipe there is no additional sugar besides what’s in the dried apricots. There’s no dairy, nuts and gluten. It’s all plant based. This dessert is inspired by the flavors of India. It's also inspired by a fruit which really doesn’t get a lot of attention but is packed with loads of nutrients….the almighty apricot. I’m really happy as to how this recipe came out. The pudding is creamy and the crust has great texture due to the quinoa flakes and chickpea flour. The overall results is a delicious, nutritious, sweet treat to be eaten anytime of the day.

Prep Time2 hrs 20 minsCook Time30 minsTotal Time2 hrs 50 mins

Apricot Filling
 1 cup unsulfured dried apricots
 1 cup non-dairy milk
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 1 tsp lemon juice
 ¼ tsp sea salt
Crust
 ½ cup toasted quinoa flakes
 1 tbsp sprouted chickpea flour
 2 tbsp soft coconut oil
 ½ tsp cardamon
 1 tsp filtered water

1

First take your apricots and put them in a bowl. Pour 3/4 cup of unsweetened non-dairy milk over the apricots (save 1/4 cup of milk). Let them sit for a couple of hours, till the apricots soak up a lot of the milk. The apricots should be fully hydrated with the milk.

Quinoa Crust
2

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the toasted quinoa flakes in the bowl with the cardamom spice and coconut oil. Mix with a fork till it becomes crumbly.

3

Add a tablespoon of chickpea flour, mix then add one teaspoon of water. It should come together where you can make a ball with the crust dough.

4

Press the crust mixture in the little pans (I used 4 1/2 inch spring form pans) or you can use a muffin pan and get about 6 pies. Place the pans in the freezer for a few minutes to set. Also for the coconut oil to solidify in the mixture.

5

Then pop the crusts in the 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Take out and let cool.

Apricot Filling
6

After your apricots soak for two hours, they should be plump and should have absorbed a lot of the milk. Pour the apricots with the milk into a blender. Add the sea salt, lemon juice, vanilla and the 1/4 cup of remaining milk. Blend.

If it’s too thick just add a little bit of water till it blends easily, I had to add 1/4 cup of water.

Please don’t add more than a 1/4 cup of water, the mixture will be too thin.

7

The mixture should be very thick but easy to blend. Once blended, scoop the pudding mixture into the pre-baked pie crusts, this is where I decided to sprinkle the calendula on top the pies. You can leave this step out if you want.

8

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Every oven is different. And I baked my pies in a toaster oven. The way to tell if the pies are done is to touch the middle. It should be set and firm with the outer edges creased.

9

These pies have to be completely cool before eating. They would taste great with a little nondairy yogurt on top or non dairy whipped cream but I didn’t have any at the time.

It’s also recommended, if you can wait (I couldn’t ) till the following day to eat. When you put the pies in the refrigerator overnight the flavors come together perfectly. And they make a wonderful breakfast for the next day!

10

Any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

Apricot Filling
 1 cup unsulfured dried apricots
 1 cup non-dairy milk
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 1 tsp lemon juice
 ¼ tsp sea salt
Crust
 ½ cup toasted quinoa flakes
 1 tbsp sprouted chickpea flour
 2 tbsp soft coconut oil
 ½ tsp cardamon
 1 tsp filtered water

Directions

1

First take your apricots and put them in a bowl. Pour 3/4 cup of unsweetened non-dairy milk over the apricots (save 1/4 cup of milk). Let them sit for a couple of hours, till the apricots soak up a lot of the milk. The apricots should be fully hydrated with the milk.

Quinoa Crust
2

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the toasted quinoa flakes in the bowl with the cardamom spice and coconut oil. Mix with a fork till it becomes crumbly.

3

Add a tablespoon of chickpea flour, mix then add one teaspoon of water. It should come together where you can make a ball with the crust dough.

4

Press the crust mixture in the little pans (I used 4 1/2 inch spring form pans) or you can use a muffin pan and get about 6 pies. Place the pans in the freezer for a few minutes to set. Also for the coconut oil to solidify in the mixture.

5

Then pop the crusts in the 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Take out and let cool.

Apricot Filling
6

After your apricots soak for two hours, they should be plump and should have absorbed a lot of the milk. Pour the apricots with the milk into a blender. Add the sea salt, lemon juice, vanilla and the 1/4 cup of remaining milk. Blend.

If it’s too thick just add a little bit of water till it blends easily, I had to add 1/4 cup of water.

Please don’t add more than a 1/4 cup of water, the mixture will be too thin.

7

The mixture should be very thick but easy to blend. Once blended, scoop the pudding mixture into the pre-baked pie crusts, this is where I decided to sprinkle the calendula on top the pies. You can leave this step out if you want.

8

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Every oven is different. And I baked my pies in a toaster oven. The way to tell if the pies are done is to touch the middle. It should be set and firm with the outer edges creased.

9

These pies have to be completely cool before eating. They would taste great with a little nondairy yogurt on top or non dairy whipped cream but I didn’t have any at the time.

It’s also recommended, if you can wait (I couldn’t ) till the following day to eat. When you put the pies in the refrigerator overnight the flavors come together perfectly. And they make a wonderful breakfast for the next day!

10

Any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.

Apricot Pudding Pies