I’ve had an exhausting weekend visiting the Free From and Allergy Show in London! Found some great new products and old one’s that had yet to be discovered by me……

It was great to connect with the producers of these amazing products and also to finally chat with other bloggers at the meet up, organised by the show.

I also finally got to meet the amazing Vicki, the Free From Fairy, who is such an inspiration to myself and to the world of free from cookery. She’s clearly a wonderful person too and it was great to connect. Thanks Vicki!

In addition to meeting lots of lovely people, I have had a weekend of scoffing endless samples of gluten free goodies. When there is so much food you have to avoid on a daily basis, it is very exciting and quite overwhelming to be faced with seemingly endless supplies of GF nibbles and it is all too easy to shuffle from stall to stall trying anything you can get your hands on. Some of it is amazingly good. Some of it is not…… But either way, you are tempted to try the lot…….

Today I have felt the need for a post-binge fruit and veg diet…… Straight, fresh and as unprocessed as possible! This smoothie has proved the perfect antidote to a stomach full of processed carbs.

Full of tropical goodness, it is made with fresh, ripe mango, banana, baobab powder coconut milk, raspberries and honey. It tastes so much of summer and with each spoonful, you know you are putting great stuff into your body.

I found the mangos a while ago in Brixton market when I was up there for a meeting. They were big, juicy, proper Caribbean mangos which are so much richer and sweeter than the ones you get in the local supermarket.

The baobab powder is from a company called Aduna who work closely with local communities in Africa, to make sure the Baobab is de-hulled at source to get the best possible product and to ensure the local communities benefit fully from this precious resource. Baobab has amazing nutritional properties and has one of the highest anti-oxidant properties of any fruit in the world.

I first discovered baobab powder from Aduna when I visited the Free From show in 2013. Aduna were there again this year……  You can read about baobab and see a couple of other recipes that I have used it in here (baobab, mint & pineapple sorbet) and here (tropical sorbet).

The main liquid base to this smoothie is coconut milk. It is worth buying a really good quality brand as they can vary considerably. Coconut Merchant produce particularly ethical products, working with local farmers to ensure they are fairly paid and that the produce is high quality. Their coconut milk is delicious!

The raspberries are (of course) in season right now….. plump….. juicy….. fruity red goodness! Mine were sourced locally from our favourite farm shop (Macknade).

The smoothie is really thick, but is incredibly simple to make! More of a pudding than a drink, it would make amazing summer lollies…… To make it that little bit more dessert-like, I have topped it with a sprinkle of desiccated coconut and a handful of chocolate chunks (dairy free) but you can also use carob if you prefer.

It would be divine for breakfast too!

I am sharing my Mango-Rasperry-Coconut Smoothie Pud with the following :

Vegetable Palette with Shaheen at Allotment2Kitchen on account of the raspberries contained within. This month’s theme is ‘Glorious Reds’.

Shop Local with Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary. The raspberries are local and so was the honey (sourced at a local food fair from my favourite local company Nuts4Honey).

Recipe of the Week with Emily at A Mummy Too.

Free From Fridays with Emma at the Free From Farmhouse.

Mango-Raspberry-Coconut Smoothie-Pud (makes 4 to 5 servings)

Ingredients