Pomegranate Parfaits with Popped Amaranth & Almond Cream
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Serves: 4
 
A dairy-free but beautifully creamy breakfast packed with toasty popped amaranth, crunchy pistachios, cocoa nibs and bursts of sweet pomegranate seeds, these bowls also double up as a delicious dessert. The almonds in this recipe need soaking for a minimum of 6 hours, so make sure to bear in mind when planning this recipe.
Ingredients
Almond cream
  • 140g raw almonds
  • 180ml filtered water
  • ½ tsp vanilla powder
  • pinch fleur de sel
  • 2 tbsp runny honey
  • 1 tbsp melted coconut oil
Parfaits
  • 45g amaranth
  • 40g pistachios, toasted & chopped
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder
  • 15g cocoa nibs
  • Seeds from half a pomegranate
  • Runny honey, to serve (optional)
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, cover the almonds with filtered water and leave to soak at room temperature for a minimum of six hours, or overnight. Drain and rinse.
  2. Combine the soaked almonds, fresh filtered water, vanilla, fleur de sel, honey and coconut oil in a powerful blender and blend 2 - 3 minutes until completely smooth and the consistency of thick yoghurt. Add a little more water if necessary. Spoon into a bowl and refrigerate for one hour.
  3. To pop the amaranth, place a deep, dry saucepan over a high heat. Once the pan is scorching hot, drop in 2 tbsp amaranth, cover and shimmy for 10 - 20 seconds until all the amaranth has puffed up or popped and turned white in colour. Be very careful as the tiny grains can easily catch and burn. Tip the popped amaranth into a small bowl and repeat with the remaining grains.
  4. To assemble the parfaits, add the pistachios, cocoa powder and nibs to the popped amaranth and stir to combine. Take four small bowls or mason jars and spoon 3 tbsp almond cream, followed by 2 tbsp of the popped amaranth mixture and a handful of pomegranate seeds into each. Repeat the layers again, finishing with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with a little more honey, if you like, and serve.
Notes
In the book, Megan suggests popping the full quantity of amaranth in one go. I tried this and had to give up after 2 minutes of toasting when the amaranth was more brown than golden and not at all popped. Doing it in smaller quantities - as detailed in the recipe above - seemed to work much better for me.

I'm sure it's because I'm a novice, but worth bearing in mind if you're new to the whole amaranth thing too.
Recipe by thelittleloaf at http://www.thelittleloaf.com/2014/02/03/pomegranate-parfaits-popped-amaranth-almond-cream/