This is a page of recipes for desserts, sauces and other foods which contain no citric acid, either as an additive or in fruit and veg. It goes without saying that when I say 'ice cream' I mean 'ice cream you've checked to make sure it doesn't have citric acid in it'!
The book 'What's Cooking: Rice and Risotto" by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen contains recipes for a number of both classic and unusual rice-based desserts, many of which are completely free of ingredients containing citric acid.
The Hamlyn All-colour Book of Indian Cookery is a great resource for curry-lovers who want to stay clear of citric acid. I do sometimes find that I have to increase the amounts of spices used from wthat's given in the recipe to get a rich flavour, though this might be to do with the freshness of the spices I use!
Recipes
Banoffee pie
(Quantities coming as soon as I've made this again - it's been a while). This is not, alas, a recipe for lactose intolerants, but it is delicious! Banoffee toffee, more correctly known as dulce de leche, was invented in South America as a way of preserving milk, so it keeps very well by itself and doesn't need additives to keep it fresh - but also because it's still milk, it does eventually go off! Banoffee pie is a delicious and very simple dessert, but it's best to use readymade banoffee toffee as making it yourself is a very tedious process involving boiling tins of condensed milk for hours on end.
Line the flan tin with greaseproof paper. Place digestive biscuits in a clear plastic bag, tie it up carefully ensuring there's no excess air in it, and beat violently with a rolling pin until reduced to crumbs. (The biscuits, not you). Melt butter in a saucepan, add biscuit crumbs and mix well to coat the crumbs completely. (A spoonful of golden sryup can aid cohesion and stop the base crumbling when sliced, but I don't like the extra sweetness myself). Press the biscuit and butter mix into the bottom of the flan tin to form a cheesecake-style base. Chill until firm.
Spread a layer of banoffee toffee onto the base, then add a layer of sliced bananas. Repeat if you like. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, and spread or pipe over the pie. Decorate with a sprinkle of cocoa powder if you like. Refrigerate until served.
Fruit "Soup"
This is a lovely sophisticated dessert, but it must be made immediately before serving. If your fruit is really ripe you shouldn't need any honey or sugar, but we can't always have everything so keep some on hand!
Use equal parts fruit and ice cream, and add a small amount of milk to produce a liquid instead of a paste. Peel and dice the fruit if necessary, place all three ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Serve in espresso cups with a wafer and a teaspoon.
Mango yoghurt smoothie
Remove all usable flesh from the mango. Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. This gives a delicious, creamy yet fruity drink.
No-tomato Pizza Sauce
I've finally perfected a replacement for traditional pizza sauce which doesn't contain tomatoes. It's moist and tasty and carries most normal pizza toppings really well - we like it with mushrooms and pepperoni. This recipe makes just enough to cover one 8-9" pizza base; for an extra generous covering use 1½ peppers instead. Will even work as a dip!
Pizza tip: Most mozzarella cheese has citric acid in the watery juice it's stored in to act as a preservative, but you can occasionally find one that doesn't. Try asking in posh delicatessens for fresh buffalo mozzarella, which may suit lactose intolerants too.
Ingredients
Equipment: Mini blender (food processing attachments from hand blenders work great).
Preheat the oven to 220°C (gas 7 or 425°F). Halve and deseed the peppers, place them cut side down, well spaced apart on a sheet of tinfoil and bake for 10-20 minutes until the skins are blackened and puffy. Remove from the oven (leave it on if you're making the pizzas now) and peel off the skins; they will peel off in large sheets if the peppers are cooked enough.
Chop the cooked peppers in half roughly and add to the food processor/blender. Add about a tablespoon in total of oil, blending garlic and chilli to taste, and a small handful of washed basil leaves. Put the lid on the blender, pulse a few times till the ingredients begin to mix, and then blend for 15-20 seconds until a slightly chunky paste is formed. Season to taste - I don't use much in the way of salt and pepper as the toppings usually provide plenty!
Freezing: If you want to make a big quantity in advance and freeze this, don't blend the oils and basil in - just whiz up the peppers and freeze that in dollops, then add the oil and herbs when you thaw it out to use.
Fake Pizza with goat's cheese and pesto
This recipe is also free of cow's milk (though it contains goats' cheese!)
Put the oven on to heat up according to the instructions for the pizza base. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and cook the chicken or turkey lightly on a fairly high heat, until it's slightly browned but not quite cooked through. Turn off the heat and leave in the pan to collect the juices. Place the base on a pizza sheet and spread a thin, even layer of pesto over it, not quite to the edges. Crumble the goats' cheese into chunks and scatter over the pesto; scatter the leek evenly over the cheese. Add the mushrooms - if you like, lay them out in a decorative pattern. Next add the turkey, sprinkling any pan juices over the whole pizza, and top the whole thing off with a drizzle of garlic oil. Pop in the oven and bake as per the instructions for the pizza base: the meat should be golden and completely cooked by the time it comes out. Serve with freshly ground black pepper and a crisp salad dressed with oil and balsamic vinegar.