In my never-ending struggle to try and consume more pomegranates for fertility and general health, I have come up with a new recipe. This recipe was actually inspired by a trip to Dubai my husband and I took a few years ago. I really love middle eastern food, I remember thinking the food in Dubai was one of my most favourite ever. In Dubai, they had lots of pomegranates. dates, pistachios and “Turkish delight” type desserts. They even had Turkish delight juice at the hotel we were staying at which was amazing but much too sweet. I just generally love the vibe of all of those ingredients together so found a way to put them all into the same recipe. I think the flavours together turned out to be quite different and exotic and it’s a good way to get more pomegranate juice into my life since I really don’t enjoy drinking it on its own all that much. The recipe is not difficult but it does require a few steps as it has three layers. I found the clean up a little much. The trickiest part is the jelly layer. Although it is fairly easy to do, I found using agar quite intimidating for quite some time. After experimenting with it, I have found that the trick is to make sure you bring the mixture to a boil. If the mixture does not reach a boil it will not activate the agar and therefore will not set. Once it is boiling though, any amount of time seems to work. I tend to only keep it on the stove for another minute or so so that the mixture is still liquid and can be poured easily. The more the mixture is kept on the stove, the thicker it becomes and then it becomes harder to spread over the layer with a smooth finish.
The recipe is vegan, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and gluten-free.
| Vegan Rose Pomegranate Jelly Slice | Print |
- BASE:
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup dates
- ⅓ cup pistachio nuts (shells removed)
- 2 tsp water
- FILLING:
- 2 cups raw cashews (soaked for 3-4 hours or overnight)
- 6 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 cup cacao butter
- 4 TBSP pomegranate juice
- 1 TBSP rose water
- JELLY LAYER:
- 1 cup pomegranate juice
- 2 TBSP agar powder
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
- For the base, add all ingredients into a food processor and process until sticky. Press down evenly onto the base of a lined 10 cm square baking tin. set aside
- For the filling, meltdown cacao butter in a saucepan on low heat until liquid. Add cacao butter and all remaining filling ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour over the base and set in the fridge while making the jelly layer.
- For the jelly layer, combine all ingredients into a saucepan. Whisk continuously on medium heat until the mixture comes up to a boil. Once boiling, keep whisking for about 1- 2 minutes, this will thicken the mixture. Remove from heat and pour over the filling. Set in the fridge for about 4 hours before slicing. It Will also set in the freezer.
This looks like a lovely recipe. I would like to give it a go. Is it definitely made in a 10cm square baking tin?
yes, but the size doesn’t matter too much, it will still work in a larger tin, will just turn out thinner.