Bettina says: “Very few ingredients are needed to make this incredibly light and satisfying mousse. It has an added grown-up twist of amaretto, which can easily be skipped for little ones.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 320ml good-quality coconut cream or refrigerated full-fat tinned coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons runny peanut or almond butter
• 3 tablespoons cacao powder
• 2–3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons amaretto
• zest of 1 orange

For the caramelised oranges

• 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
• 3 oranges, peeled and cut into slices
• ½ vanilla pod, split and the seeds scraped out, or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or paste

To serve

• grated dark chocolate, with at least 70% cocoa solids
• 4 slices of orange (optional)

Method

Add the coconut cream and all the other ingredients to a bowl. Use an electric hand-held whisk to mix everything together until fluffy (be careful not to overblend).

To make the caramelised oranges, heat the coconut oil in a small to medium saucepan and fry the orange slices before finishing off with the vanilla.

To serve, add a couple of caramelised orange slices to the bottom of each serving glass and spoon in the mousse.

Top with grated chocolate and an orange slice (if using).

Refrigerate before serving or eat immediately.

Bettina says: “Do you have leftover stale bread lying around? I know exactly what you can make with it. Reimagined bread and butter pudding with rhubarb and custard. So good!”

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the pudding

• 500ml coconut milk
• 100g pitted dates
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 baguette or 500g stale bread (preferably white)

For the roasted rhubarb

• 380g fresh rhubarb
• zest of 1 orange
• ½ vanilla pod, split and the seeds scraped out, or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

For the homemade custard

• 2 tablespoons cornflour or 2 tablespoons dairy-free custard powder 360ml whole plant milk (I prefer full-fat oat milk)
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 vanilla pod, split and the insides scraped out, or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar or a sweetener of your choice
• zest of ½ lemon

Method

Whizz the coconut milk, dates, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Tear the bread into a deep baking dish, then pour the coconut milk mixture over the top. Let the mixture soak into the bread for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

When you are ready to bake the pudding, preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4 and bake for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the roasted rhubarb by cutting each stalk into three pieces. Add to a bowl with the orange zest, vanilla and maple syrup. Mix well to coat the rhubarb.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment and add the marinated rhubarb, pouring any remaining marinade on top. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes once the pudding has been baking for 15 minutes, so they are both ready at the same time.

While the bread and butter pudding is cooking, make the custard.

Serve the bread and butter pudding with the roasted rhubarb and some homemade custard on the side.

Homemade custard

Whisk the cornflour/custard powder, milk, turmeric, vanilla and sugar together in a small saucepan.

Bring to the boil on the stovetop while stirring until the custards thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, then remove from the heat.

Stir in the lemon zest and set aside to cool.

Bettina says: “This is a classic Danish Christmas dish that I have made into a plant-based version. Slow-cooked rice pudding is made extra luxurious with cream ladled in at the end and there’s also a hidden almond for one lucky finder.”

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 200g sushi rice (or any rice will do)
• 500ml water
• 250ml coconut cream or refrigerated full-fat tinned coconut milk (see cook’s tips)
• ½ vanilla pod, split and the seeds scraped out, or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar or 1 tablespoon maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar
• 1 almond (to hide inside the pudding once cooked)

To finish

• 100ml coconut cream, whipped (see cook’s tips)
• ½ vanilla pod, split and the seeds scraped out (see cook’s tips), or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

To serve

• warmed berries (such as blueberries, blackberries and strawberries) and a sprinkling of ground cinnamon
• basil sprigs

Method

Boil the rice in the water in a medium saucepan until all the liquid has completely evaporated. This should take no more than 20–30 minutes.

Add the coconut cream, vanilla and sugar (or whichever sweetener you are using) to the rice and let everything simmer for a further 20 minutes until you have a beautiful, creamy, rice pudding-like consistency.

Once the rice pudding is ready let it cool down completely.

To finish, whip the cream and fold in to the rice pudding with the vanilla and cinnamon – and don’t forget to add the almond.

Ladle into serving bowls, top with warm berries and basil, and whoever finds the lone almond in their dish has a lot of good luck coming their way!

Cook’s tips

Whatever quantity you would like to make, just use 1 part rice to 2 parts water to scale the recipe up or down.

If using a fresh vanilla pod, once you have scraped out the seeds, pop the pod in the rice while it’s cooking for extra flavour and remove before serving.

Whipped coconut cream

Select a good-quality brand of full-fat coconut milk.

Chill the tin overnight in the refrigerator to harden (chilling in the freezer doesn’t work as well). You want to separate the solidified cream at the top of the tin from the liquid. Chilling overnight is key, or the coconut cream won’t harden and will probably be too soft to whip.

Before you whip the cream, chill a large mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Scoop the hardened cream into the bowl, leaving any clear liquid behind (reserve this for smoothies, soups and stews).

Whip the cream with a handheld mixer or stand mixer until light peaks form. Be careful not to overmix.

Use the whipped cream immediately or, preferably, make ahead and chill for at least 4 hours after, which it will have firmed up even more!

Cook’s tip

If the coconut cream is too stiff when whipping, add some of the reserved liquid from the tin to help it whip more easily.

Celebrate: Plant-Based Recipes for Every Occasion by Bettina Campolucci Bordi (Hardie Grant, £20) is out now