I grew up eating pineapple pudding and as a little girl I would fight everyone for a bigger portion. When it comes to food, especially food that I love, I am a bully.

My mum says she watched her sister, my Daya masi, make this in 1980-something, and she adapted it. The original recipe called for an egg but my mum says we don’t need it. I’ve evolved her recipe to be a little bit more healthy because of another aunt and her observant eye. She discovered sweetened condensed coconut milk in the store recently and inspired me to recreate this lovely summer dessert.

Top Tip: To make this a vegan dessert, substitute the jelly for 1 tbsp of Agar Agar mixed in water and replace the fresh cream with whipped coconut cream.

And did you know: Agar Agar is made up of water-soluble, indigestible fibre. It’s considered to be a healthy addition to weight loss plans because it is low in calories, fat, sugar and carbs. It’s also an appetite suppressant.

Ingredients

1 can 200 ml Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk (I use Nature’s Charm from Dischem)

2 packets of pineapple jelly/1 tbsp Agar Agar mixed in 250 ml water (I use the Health Connection brand, also found in Dischem)

3 medium pineapples grated

1 cup of fresh cream/whipped coconut cream

Method

1. In a bowl dissolve two packets of pineapple jelly in 250 ml hot water and 250 ml cold water.

2. Mix in the condensed milk and cream.

3. In a large pot, stew the pineapple until all the liquid evaporates. Let this mixture cool completely before adding it to your jelly mixture. I usually pop it into the freezer for 15 minutes.

4. Combine all the ingredients and pour into a glass dish.

5. Refrigerate until the dessert is set, or overnight.