Strawberry and apricot chia puddings with granola

My regular breakfast for the past year has been diced seasonal fruit, unsweetened Greek yoghurt and home made granola.  It is so satisfying.  Tonight we had a version of it for dessert.  I have been planning to make it for the past week or two.  I finally made it last night because I had the energy after leftover soup and salad for tea and the fruit was not going to last much longer.  It was certainly worth the wait.

There were so many reasons to make this dessert and so many reasons I wanted to share it here on my blog.

• It is healthy, full of fruit and good stuff!
• You can use your favourite granola and/or dairy free yoghurt or omit either one to make it vegan, gluten free, nut free, dairy free or just to please different preferences!  Sylvia preferred cornflakes to my granola.
• On a warm Spring evening, we did not have to turn on the oven and it could be made quickly with minimal cooking.
• Stone fruit is in season.  Oh joy!
• It was quick and easy to put together.
• I didn't have any decent chocolate in the house.  I often have a square or two of dark Lindt chocolate  in the evening.  There are choc chips are in the pantry but they are a "break glass in case of emergency" sort of sweet treat.
  
• This is a great way to use up uneaten fruit that is past its prime. 
• Layered desserts in a glass always look so pretty.
  
• We have just put out our Christmas tea towels so it is a chance to use them in photos.

And we have finally got our old fluorescent light in the kitchen working again.  Luckily the light hasn't been working for the past few weeks in the period leading up the Summer Solstice when the sun is not setting til about 8.30pm.  But it was getting annoying.  Then, serendipitously, we had an electrician out to fix the electricity box that connects our units to the street supply.  I asked him to come and look at it.  He offered to put in a new fitting.  It was tempting but we left our old fitting in because he showed me how the light wasn't working when fully in but if we loosen it a little (not so much that it falls on our head but he said this would not hurt much if it did) the light will work.  Which means that I can take photos after dark in the kitchen light.  It is not as good as natural light but some days, that is my only option.

We make strawberry chia jam regularly but this is my first go at apricot chia jam.  It was excellent.  I am not that familiar with chia pudding recipes but I think they have this sort of texture as the chia jam we are used to.  After all, we often eat it by the spoonful.  A lot of chia puddings have sweet milky chia mixtures but I am not that into dairy so I prefer the fruity kind.  I topped mine with a little yoghurt and, because it is stone fruit season, a cherry on top.  If you want a festive version then a layers of strawberry and kiwi fruit would work well. I highly recommend you try it, however you like it.

More chilled fruity desserts on Green Gourmet Giraffe blog:
Apple crumble cheesecake
Caramel apple trifle
Choc-nut banana and fruit kebabs (gf, v)
Cranachan 
Creamy strawberry icy poles (popsicles) (gf)
Fruit salad (gf, v) 
Rhubarb and white chocolate ice cream (gf)
Strawberry soup (gf, v)
Strawberry sushi with chocolate sauce (gf, v)
Vegan peach cheesecake (gf, v)  

Strawberry and apricot chia puddings with granola
A Green Gourmet Giraffe original recipe

Strawberry chia jam (see below)
Apricot chia jam (see below)
Granola
Greek yoghurt, unsweetened
Cherries

Choose a glass to present your pudding.  I like to use small wine glasses that are about two thirds of a cup or 160ml and recommend you keep your glass small if possible.  Spoon about 2 generous spoonfuls of the apricot chia jam into the glass and smooth the top.  Repeat with strawberry chia jam.  Spoon in granola (about the same size of the previous two layers) and finish with a spoonful of yoghurt and a cherry on top.

Strawberry chia jam
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

375g (about 1 and 1/2 cups) strawberries
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 and 1/2 tbsp chia seeds

Hull strawberries (ie slice off green leafy tops).  Chop finely by hand or in a food processor.  Mix berries, maple syrup and chia seeds in a small saucepan.  Bring to the boil over low heat and simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes until it is just thickened, stirring occasionally.  It will thicken as it cools.  Keeps in the fridge in a jar or tub for about a week.

Apricot chia jam

5 apricots (about 350g or 2 cups chopped apricots)
4 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp chia seeds

Halve apricots and remove stones.  Chop finely by hand or in a food processor.  Mix fruit, maple syrup and chia seeds in a small saucepan.  Bring to the boil over low heat and simmer uncovered for 10 to 20 minutes until it is just thickened and the fruit is cooked and soft.  Stir the mixture occasionally so it does not stick to the bottom of the saucepan.  It will thicken as it cools.  Keeps in the fridge in a jar or tub for about a week.

NOTES:

We let our finished dessert sit for about 20-30 minutes and ate while the chia jam was still lukewarm.  If I was feeling less impatient I would chill in the fridge, especially if I was organised enough to prepare my dessert before dinner.

As mentioned above, this is a dessert that is easy to change around to suit availability, diets and preferences.

The recipe make between 1 to 2 cups.  This is far more chia jam than we needed but it can be used to flavour yoghurts, spread on bread, used to top ice cream and other desserts or just eaten by the spoonful straight from the jar.  It keeps about a week in the fridge but ours never lasts that long! 

The chia jam recipes reflect what I did but the quantities can be changed depending on how much fruit you have.  I did not specify quantities for the puddings because it is easy to scale up or down, depending on how many you are serving.

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