This delicious Christmas Pudding is totally raw, vegan, sugar-free and gluten-free. It will amaze your friends because it is so tasty and absolutely packed with healthy fats.

A key ingredient is coconut oil. It’s highly nutritious and rich in the healthy, shorter length fatty acids—making it easy to digest.

Coconut oil activates our digestive system to burn up unwanted fats and toxins. A sluggish digestive system combined with a faulty diet will leave a lot of toxic residue in the body in the form of undigested food.

Consider how a fire fuelled with damp wood will not burn completely. We need to add the right kind of fuel to get the fire going. In our case, foods like coconut oil or ghee can boost our digestive fire.

In the 1940s, farmers tried using coconut oil as a potentially cheap food to fatten their animals. They soon discovered that it made them lean and active instead, and also increased their appetites! Great for the animals’ health, but not so good for profits. They switched to soya beans, which proved much more cost effective. The soya lowered the animals’ thyroid function, so they became less active, gained more weight, and at the same time reduced their appetites.

However, as most of us are not trying to fatten ourselves up at a minimal cost, why not use coconut oil rather than soya or corn oil for your home cooking? It’s important to choose unrefined ‘virgin’ cold pressed coconut oil, stored in glass (not plastic). It may cost more, but a little goes a long way.

About 50% of coconut oil is in the form of a fat called lauric acid. This is not only a good energy source, but it also has a healthy anti-bacterial effect. Lauric acid in the body is converted into monolaurin, which disrupts the membranes of (and destroys) such organisms as fungus, bacteria and viruses.

Coconut oil also contains about 10% caprylic acid, which is another rapidly metabolised oil with a powerful anti-fungal effect that can help reduce candida. In India, coconut oil is widely used as a hair oil. This is great in a hot country, but it sets hard at low temperatures, so in a British winter you may find your hair goes a bit solid! It’s fantastic for your skin, and makes a great massage oil.

Coconut oil is anti-bacterial and can also be used for ‘oil pulling’—the Ayurvedic way to clean your teeth. A little oil is placed in the mouth and you swish it between your teeth for a few minutes before spitting it out.

Raw, Sugar-free, Gluten-free, Vegan Christmas Pudding

100 g sultanas
100 g dates chopped
100 g dried figs chopped
150ml apple juice
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
100 g cashews
100 g coconut oil
100 g maple syrup

• Mix the apple juice with the dried fruit.
• Add the spices.
• Mix well and soak for at least 2 hours.
• Place the cashews, coconut oil and syrup in a Vitamix or Nutri-bullet type blender.
• Take a 100 g portion of the soaked dried fruit mixture and blend it to a puree. Then mix it back into the rest of the fruit.
• Place into a pudding bowl and freeze overnight.

Toppings:

Green Topping
80 g raw spinach
80 g coconut oil
1 kiwi
50 g agave syrup
80 g cashews

Blend the spinach, kiwi, coconut oil, agave syrup and cashews in a blender.

Red Topping
80 g raw beetroot peeled and sliced thinly
80 g coconut oil
80 g 100% fruit sugar-free raspberry jam
80 g cashews

Put the sliced raw beetroot, coconut oil, sugar-free jam and cashews in a blender. It needs to be a strong one like a NutriBullet. Grind to a smooth paste.

Orange Topping
80 g raw carrot peeled and sliced thinly
80 g coconut oil
80 g 100% fruit apricot jam
80 g cashews

Blend the sliced raw carrot, coconut oil, sugar free jam and cashews in a blender.

White Topping
30 g desiccated coconut
80 g coconut oil
3 tbsp almond milk
50 g agave syrup
80 g raw cashews

Blend the desiccated coconut, almond milk, coconut oil, agave syrup and cashews in a blender.