Strawberry Orange Chia Seed Pudding
This blog is mainly devoted to baking and desserts, but I’ve decided to start sneaking in some treats that are on the lighter side from time to time. I love the combination of strawberry and orange in this chia seed pudding. Strawberries can be wonderfully sweet on their own, but the citrus brightens them up and adds a little complexity to an otherwise simple pudding. The layer of strawberry sauce makes these pretty enough to serve for a Sunday brunch, and since you make them ahead, all you have to do is garnish them when serving. The pudding can easily be made vegan by using almond or coconut yogurt.
I’d suggest making this at the height of strawberry season when they’re at their sweetest and juiciest. A good trick for telling if strawberries will be sweet is how red they are. If they’re all dark red, the more it is that they'll be sweet. If they have large patches of white at the top or are pale, they’re probably going to be tasteless or sour.
If you’ve never had chia seeds before, they have a very mild, nutty flavor. On their own, they're crunchy like poppy seeds, but if you soak them they become gelatinous and give the soaking liquid a pudding texture. They also have a lot of health benefits.
Strawberry Orange Chia Seed Pudding Recipe:
Yield:
2 or 3 servings depending on the size of your serving dish
Difficulty:
Easy
Plan ahead:
The chia seeds will start to get soft in about 1/2 hour, but the pudding will be nicer if you give it around 5 hours to soften. Overnight works too.
Ingredients:
454 grams (16 oz) strawberries, stems removed
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp ground cardamom
Zest from 1 whole orange (or 1 tsp orange oil)
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup plain yogurt*
½ cup unsweetened almond milk**
3 TBSP chia seeds
2 whole strawberries and mint leaves for garnish (optional)
*For the yogurt you can use whole fat, lowfat, nonfat, or vegan
**Or the milk of your choosing
***Another trick I used when making this is orange oil instead of zest. Orange oil comes from the zest of the fruit has an intense orange flavor and scent. If you do a lot of cooking or baking like me it’s worth having around in case you run out of whole fruit or if the fruit you want isn’t in season. Below is a link to the the one I’m using currently. (No, I’m not getting any proceeds from the sales.)
https://shop.kingarthurflour.com/items/orange-citrus-oil-1-oz
Instructions:
Add strawberries, honey, and cardamom to a blender or processor and purée until smooth. Around 10 pulses.
Press the strawberry purée through a fine mesh sieve into a medium size bowl to remove seeds. This takes a few minutes, but I think it’s worth the extra effort.
Add the orange zest (or oil) to the purée and whisk thoroughly.
Remove ⅓ cup of the purée and set aside for the topping.
Add yogurt, almond milk, and vanilla to the larger amount of purée and whisk thoroughly until combined.
At this point, I’d suggest tasting both the strawberry-yogurt mixture and the strawberry topping and add more honey if desired. Strawberries vary a lot in sweetness from batch to batch and season to season.
Once it’s to your taste, whisk the chia seeds into the strawberry-yogurt mixture and divide into serving dishes. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or overnight.
To serve
When ready to serve, pour the reserved strawberry sauce on top and garnish with mint leaf.
Stir together and enjoy.
