Creamy Coconut & Apricot Couscous ‘Cake’

Dan    Recipes, Something Sweet     awesome, coconut, couscous, dessert, quick and easy, summer, sweet

What you’ll need…

Cake:

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 1/2 cups homogenized milk

1/3 cup sugar

2 TSP vanilla

1 TSP cinnamon

1/2 TSP nutmeg

3 cups couscous (uncooked)

1 cup apricots (dried, chopped)

1/2 cup butter (melted)

Walnut sauce:

1 cup walnuts

1 cup homogenized milk

1/2 brown sugar (firmly packed)

shredded coconut (for garnish, optional)

(Disclaimer: Please look away if you like rice pudding) I’ve never liked rice pudding. Ever. I didn’t mean to break any hearts, but I really can’t stand it. Consider this my ‘ode’ to questionable dish that is rice pudding. Anyway…I first tried out a version from FoodNetwork.ca of this couscous-based dessert in my Kick The KD  Start From Scratch class, which went over very well. The coconut milk adds a nice creaminess. Although not completely guilt-free, you won’t feel too bad after eating a generous portion of this!

 Place the coconut milk, milk, sugar, vanilla and spices in a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring regularly until the sugar has dissolved. While you’re waiting for that to heat up, place the uncooked couscous in a large mixing bowl. Once the liquid begins to boil, remove from heat and pour over-top of the couscous. Give everything a good stir to ensure that the liquid will be evenly absorbed. Cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Next, add the apricots, melted butter and give a few good stirs until the mixture is nicely combined. Now, to form the sweet couscous into ‘cakes’ you’ll need six ramekins. In lieu of ramekins, feel free to use some short tumbler glasses, small bowls, or any other item in your kitchen that may fit the bill. This is purely for shaping the ‘cakes’. Place spoonfuls of the mixture into each ramekin (or similar facsimile of…), and firmly pack it in. Set aside until to dish them out.

Now, for the sauce…Place the walnuts, milk, and brown sugar in a blender and puree until smooth. Place in a small pot and leave on low heat, just to warm the sauce. When it’s time to serve the dessert, take a plate, place on top of a ramekin, and flip it over. Then, left up the ramekin and you should have a beautiful looking couscous cake on your plate. If it does not simply slide out, give it a few taps and it should come out intact! Spoon some sauce on top and top with some shredded coconut for good measure. Yum!

Take that rice pudding!

Serves 6

Total cook time…20 min

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