We wanted to make sure this one tasted pretty darn good so we crammed in a whopping 12% chocolate. That does mean the fat and calorie content of our chocolate dessert is a bit higher than the others, but we love chocolate and see it as a bit of an indulgence. Something you'll look forward to curling up on the sofa with after a long day. Provided you're not superstitious.
OK. Our eggs are powdered, but they are real eggs. We have to use them in powdered form because it's the only way we can manage volume, storage, transportation and health and safety issues. And from a recipe point of view they're hard to do without. Nothing makes things gloopy quite like an egg.
Our lemon dessert is made with real lemons. Lemon is one of the hardest flavours to produce synthetically and since lemons do grow on trees, we may as well put the real stuff in.
Soya milk is a dairy free alternative to milk but it has health benefits that would appeal to lots of other people. Soya protein is packed full of isoflavones (part of the phytoestrogen group should you need it in a pub quiz) which is the plant version of the hormone estrogen. This can be particularly good for women, even helping with hormone related health problems such as the menopause and osteoporosis.
But its not just for girls, the protein in soya is good for your heart, and you need protein to build muscles too. Not only is it cholesterol free, it has been shown to actively lower levels of the harmful LDL cholesterol. The Isoflavones also have anti-oxidant properties which could help to reduce the risk of ill health.
As if this list isn't long enough already, a National Cancer Institute study indicated westerners could halve their risk of breast and prostate cancer by increasing intake of soya proteins.
Nomoo is lactose, wheat and gluten-free and low in saturated fat. The soya milk used in Nomoo contains 20% more calcium than ordinary milk and vitamin D too, which is important for absorbing calcium to build strong bones and keep the nervous system healthy. It contains B12, vitamin A, rioboflavin, niacin, vitamin E, folic acid and Zinc. The non-GM soya milk used in Nomoo is only made with the purest part of the soya bean that has been stripped of starch, sugar and oligosaccharides (a carbohydrate that can be hard to digest and cause flatulence - urgh). This also gives it a cleaner, fresher, creamier taste.
While babies should avoid Soya milk, it is generally fine for children over the age of 2 because it is fortified with vitamins and calcium. However children do need some healthy fats which are found in dairy, but not in soya milk. We recommend you consult your health practitioner and don’t cut out dairy unless they really do have problems with it. Fortified soya could form an additional healthy aspect of their diet, or a dairy replacement provided they also have sufficient fat in their diet.
Nomoo contains 23% strawberries. We wanted it to be really fruity and this seemed like the most straight forward way of doing it. There's probably somewhere between 7 and 12 strawberries in each pot by weight, but that could be made up of potentially hundreds of actual strawberries. That's the trouble with real ingredients it's hard to know.
We make no apologies for using natural cane sugar in our desserts - it’s a pudding and it’s sweet. All natural homemade cakes, biscuits and puds use sugar. The only alternative is artificial sweetener (and since they've been linked to everything from insanity to weight gain, cane sugar seems like the way forward). Our calorie content is perfectly acceptable. We aren't making diet desserts, just dairy free and tasty. Like all puddings they are for the odd indulgence to satisfy a sweet tooth. If you're still worried, jog on the spot while you eat it.
We only use real vanilla pods to make our custard. Not just because they taste so much better but because we wanted to make all our flavourings natural. You can’t beat the real thing. Besides, hyperactive children (or worse still adults) on E numbers have no place at the dinner table.