I’m a big fan of chia pudding (looks like dessert, tastes like dessert but is totally acceptable to eat for breakfast) so when they lovely people at Sevenhills Organic sent me some of their amazing organic chia seeds and cacao powder I wanted to create something super special and super delicious using them both.

I’m all for taking inspiration from ones childhood when it comes to food – tap into someone’s early foodie memories and you’ll evoke all sorts of happy nostalgia (just ask Heston – he bases the menu for the Fat Duck on jazzed up variations of things we all enjoyed when we were little, to obvious success).

If you were anything like me though your palette wasn’t SO sophisticated as a little person – I used to love those ‘chocolate surprise’ pots which were basically pots of chocolate mousse with whipped cream on top, although I never managed to get the hang of opening them without the cream squirting up onto my face, much to the amusement of my family. Perhaps that’s why my mum kept buying them, for their comedic value. Who knows.

Anyway with that in mind I came up with these chocolate chia parfaits; which combine layers of rich, gooey chia pudding, sweet, light coconut cream and delicious strawberries (because strawberries are amazing with both chocolate and cream after all). These taste so naughty but they’re super good for you I promise so you can still eat them for breakfast! They’re fabulous as a dessert too, especially if you’ve got guests to impress as they look pretty snazzy with very little effort!

Makes 3-4 parfaits

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups almond (or other non-dairy) milk
• 3 tbsp cacao powder
• 1/3 cup chia seeds
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 cup strawberries, chopped into quarters (plus a few for decoration)

To make the chia layers, simply combine the chia seeds, almond milk, cacao powder and 2 tbsp of maple syrup in an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 hours until the pudding has set.

For the creamy layers, spoon the coconut cream and the remaining 2 tbsp maple syrup into a mixing bowl and stir well.

In the jars or glasses you are using for the parfaits, spoon in layers of the chia pudding, cream and strawberries and top with the extra strawberries (we’ve used some cacao powder and cacao nibs too for a little extra chocolatey-ness). Now grab a spoon and dig in!

Love, Mrs H xx