Edinburgh Mess

out of disaster comes triumph

Instead of 'Eton Mess' - this is 'Edinburgh Mess' - see what I did there? In case you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, Eton Mess is a famous British pudding consisting of such naughty ingredients as cream, meringue, sugar and that kind of thing - all layered up with strawberries.

My version knocks out the naughtiness and replaces it with borderline healthiness. This recipe has evolved out of my personal flapjack struggles of late. In an attempt to create a sugar free, syrup free baked thing I have been battling it out in the kitchen, trying to create a flapjack that doesn't a) crumble into a hundred pieces when you try to pick it up b) taste disgusting c) make you feel sick a few minutes after eating it.

Yes, this has been a long and hard road with many disappointments along the way. I am still not there and the perfect sugar free flapjack can not yet be released. However what I can unveil is my version of the Eton Mess - you guessed it, the Edinburgh Mess. It evolved out of the crumbling problem - instead of even trying to get a flapjack out of the mixture, it is simply layered into the pudding as though it were never meant to stick together!

I ate it myself this evening and it didn't make me sick at all, in fact it was nice and it looks very pretty in the glass. I served three guests and my husband with the cheating version which has a small amount of coconut sugar in it. They all loved it. So here goes with the recipe:

for the oaty flap jack bit:

2 cups of oats
1 tablespoon of butter (unsalted)
3 teaspoons of xylitol 
quarter teaspoon of cinammon
quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg
few drops of vanilla essence

for the layering bit:

carton of natural organic yoghurt
mixture of berries e.g. strawberries, blackberries, blueberries etc
dash of xylitol to taste

First of all tackle the flapjack mixture. For this, heat up the butter slowly until melted and add the xylitol, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then add the oats and mix it all up. Then put the oats into a greased tray and put them in the oven at 200 C until browned - takes about 15 minutes.

Then let this mixture cool. If yours comes out like a perfect batch of flapjacks and it doesn't crumble all over the place when you cut into it contact me and we'll talk, otherwise you probably now have a batch of disintegrated but tasty mixture. Let it cool and then the fun part starts.

Cut up the fruit and mix altogether with some xylitol to taste. Then take a glass and put a layer of yoghurt in the bottom. Then put a layer of the fruit mixture, then a layer of the flapjack mixture. Keep layering until the glass is as full as you want it and there you have it: "Edinburgh Mess" a pudding fit for any one of you self-respecting food lovers!