Homemade Coconut Yoghurt (with recipe)

A couple of days ago I decided to try making my own refined sugar free coconut yoghurt. There is a great store bought variety in the marketplace, but it is prohibitively expensive for many people, including myself. I also like to eat organic foods when I can. So, the idea that if I made my own yoghurt I could choose to use organic ingredients was also appealing.

I started by finding a couple of recipes online and then combined them, using a little bit of creativity, to make my own. The end result is delicious! Creamy, and just the right amount of sweetness, with a slight tang. It was also extremely cheap to make at less than $4 for around one litre of yoghurt. To buy a litre of refined sugar free coconut yoghurt off the shelf would normally cost in excess of $25.

I posted a photo of the end product on Instagram and Facebook and almost immediately had a number of people asking me how I made it. So, here is the recipe. I used a Thermomix to make mine, but I've also provided stovetop instructions. If you do not have a Thermie, you will also need a cooking thermometer.

Coconut Yoghurt

Ingredients

800-900ml coconut cream (full fat)

2.5 tbsp arrowroot or tapioca starch

1.5 tbsp coconut oil

1.5 tbsp gelatine or agar agar powder

1 tbsp maple syrup

Live yoghurt culture or 3-4 probiotic capsules

Patience (It takes a couple of days to be ready to eat!)

Method (Thermomix)

1. Combine coconut cream, arrowroot, coconut oil and gelatine or agar agar in the Thermomix bowl.

2. Cook at 90c for 9 minutes, speed 3. 

3. Allow the mixture to cool to 37c (this can take 1-2hrs)

4. Add the maple syrup and stir for 4 secs, speed 3.

5. Pour about half a cup of the mixture into a sterilised jug or bowl and add the culture. If using probiotic capsules (as I did), pull them apart and pour the contents into the milk). Gently stir the culture into the milk and pour the mix back into the Thermomix bowl.

6. Cook for 3 mins, speed 2, 37c.

7. Fill a thermos with boiling hot water and place the lid on (this helps to both sterilise and warm the thermos). Then, empty the water from the thermos, and pour in the yoghurt.

8. Place the lid on the thermos, wrap with 3 or 4 tea towels and place it in an esky. We do not have an esky, so I improvised. I place the wrapped thermos into a box, only slightly bigger than the thermos. Then, I placed that box inside a bigger box and completely filled the empty space with scrunched up newspaper, to act as insulation, before closing up the lid of the box.

9. Leave the thermos in the esky (or box) for up to 30hrs. If you can't wait, you can take it out after 12hrs, but I recommend leaving it for at least 24hrs.

10. Pour the yoghurt into a sterilised glass jar or container. At this stage the yoghurt will still be very thin. 

11. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours before eating. In this time the yoghurt will set and thicken. If you have the willpower, you can save a few spoonfuls of your yoghurt to act as your starter culture next time.

Method (Stove top)
1. Combine coconut cream, arrowroot, coconut oil and gelatine or agar agar in a saucepan.
2. Cook on gentle heat for about 9 mins, stirring continuously, so that the starch thickens. 
3. Turn off the stove and allow the mixture to cool to 43c.
4. Once cooled to 43c, stir in the maple syrup.
5. Pour about half a cup of the mixture into a sterilised jug or bowl and add the culture. If using probiotic capsules (as I did), pull them apart and pour the contents into the milk. Gently stir the culture into the milk and pour the mix back into the saucepan.
6. Reheat, and stir until the mixture is back to 43-45c. Then turn the stove off.
7. Fill a thermos with boiling hot water and place the lid on (this helps to both sterilise and warm the thermos). Then, empty the water from the thermos, and pour in the yoghurt.
8. Place the lid on the thermos, wrap with 3 or 4 tea towels and place it in an esky. We do not have an esky, so I improvised. I place the wrapped thermos into a box, only slightly bigger than the thermos. Then, I placed that box inside a bigger box and completely filled the empty space with scrunched up newspaper, to act as insulation, before closing up the lid of the box.
9. Leave the thermos in the esky (or box) for up to 30hrs. If you can't wait, you can take it out after 12hrs, but I recommend leaving it for at least 24hrs.
10. Pour the yoghurt into a sterilised glass jar or container. At this stage the yoghurt will still be very thin. 
11. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours before eating. In this time the yoghurt will set and thicken. If you have the willpower, you can save a few spoonfuls of your yoghurt to act as your starter culture next time.

Enjoy!

If you do give this recipe a try, I would love to hear how you went with it. Perhaps even tag me in a photo on Instagram @hereistash.

Grain, Dairy, Egg and Refined Sugar Free Pancakes

I was extremely tired when I got up today. However, despite my sleepiness and exhaustion,  I decided to have another go at making some grain, dairy, egg and refined sugar free pancakes from a batter that I had worked on yesterday. I thought that they might work better if I made them smaller (so they didn't break apart when being flipped), and having had time for the batter to sit in the fridge overnight.

I preheated the pan, got the container of batter out of the fridge and put the first spoonful into the pan. To my delight, the pikelet sized pancakes turned out perfectly!

After I had finished cooking up breakfast for myself and one of my housemates, Emily​, we topped our pancakes with homemade raspberry sauce and maple syrup, and tucked in. A few mouthfuls in, I commented that something just didn't taste right. They didn't taste as sweet as the batter had yesterday, in fact they tasted really rather savoury. 

Emily finished hers up as I continued to eat mine. I stopped for a few moments to make myself a cup of tea. When I came back in, she remarked "I think I know why they taste savoury...", "You know how you had the cheesy sauce..." I took another bite and, realising she was right, I suddenly couldn't eat it anymore. I ran to the bin and spat it out.

Yes, that's right. I had cooked up the leftover garlicky cashew cheese sauce from dinner last night, instead of the remaining pancake batter! I had put them in identical containers in the fridge and mistaken one for the other.

Oops!

Many important discoveries happened by mistake, and this is no exception. Ok, so it may not be penicillin, but a pancake batter that cooks well, tastes great and suits my dietary requirements is pretty darn good!

Knowing how well the cashew cheese sauce cooked up as pancakes, I figured it would only take a few small changes to develop a delicious grain, dairy, egg and refined sugar free pancake recipe.

Unfortuately, it wasn't that easy. 

I excitedly prepared a new batch of pancake batter, using the cashew cheese recipe as a guide. I put the first pancake into the pan aaaaand... no good. They didn't taste very good, fell apart easily and  took forever to cook through. 

Oh well, maybe next time.

The good news is, I was able to add extra almond meal and create an edible (and actually rather delicious) pizza base dough. So, the ingredients were not wasted! Yay!