I made this today and the result was an amazing silky smooth pudding. I took a photo but my ipad wont let me load it... But the result looked exactly like the other photos with the lovely frothy top. Dividing into 6 portions is a good idea... I divided mine into 3 glasses hence we had a double serve each which was too large and rich (but didn't stop us finishing it). I will definitely make again but keen to experiment with some mango and coconut milk next time for a mango pudding.

Wow that looks nice fundj. Do you think this would work with frozen mango (that I have defrosted) ? Would I need to drain the water away first if it is possible...? I've never made jam either... but have heaps of mango in the freezer from our recent 'crop'.

I like to always keep a good supply of whole nuts, seeds and favourite dried fruits so you can make your own muesli, cakes, biscuits etc. Many of the recipes you can adapt to what you have in the pantry so I tend to stock my favourite ones and use them as substitutes. Essentials could include milk, flour, eggs, yeast, butter, olive oil, meat (in particular I like the thermie for recipes with chicken thigh fillets), rice, pasta... With fruit and vegies, get what's fresh and on special (or the local markets are great for this) - then just do a search on the forum to make things to suit what you have to save you buying extra things. All depends on what you like cooking though... and some 'must have' ingredients may not suit everyone's tastes so it depends on your individual preference.

I've made this a few times and I agree, the texture is definitely not like a banana bread or cake is expected to be, and mine too always has a couple of cracks on the top. I wondered if it was something I was doing wrong (dense texture) but I continue to make it because we really like the taste! I mill the dates with the nuts to prevent sticking and it creates a nice crumbly mixture that comes away easily. I make it in a slice pan (and the overall shape doesn't have the big hump) and think of it as a slice rather than a cake or bread otherwise I too, would be disappointed and abandon it.  I like the combination of dates, walnuts and banana and also with the milled whole wheat grains it is quite wholesome and filling slice/snack. I reduced the amount of sugar a bit because as you say, the dates do give a lot of the sweetness. I made it again today with hazelnuts and raisins as I didn't have the other ingredients and the result was very similar.

I made this tonight as half the recipe - and it was very flavoursome, the dried apricots really make this dish!  A few tweaks to suit my pantry content: I used chicken breast which still turned out very tender.  I didn't have a packet of french onion soup, so I used one onion and 2 cloves of garlic (sauted first in the tmx with a little oil) with a tablespoon of vegetable stock concentrate instead. I will do this next time instead of the packet soup mix.  I also left out the chicken stock altogether but there was still plenty of sauce. In the last couple of minutes I added some frozen peas. It didn't need any more salt due to the stock, but I added lots of black pepper. This is going to replace the recipe I had been using for years beforehand, so thanks for this  

Thanks fundj, I have started your frozen mango bar recipe tonight (have the bottom/creamy half in the freezer already) - can't wait to finish it off tomorrow and try it, the unfrozen mix tasted yummy.

Thanks for this salad recipe, it was a nice change from the usual. I didn't have the orange blossom water so left it out and didn't have mint so used a bit of basil from the garden, although mint would have been nicer. Served with weber BBQ steaks, yum !! A keeper!