GUILT-FREE SWEETS

Aussie cooking royalty LOUISE KEATS showcases her healthy desserts!

Sweet Nourish is the latest cookbook from Louise Keats – granddaughter of Aussie cooking doyenne Margaret Fulton. It’s filled with delectable treats, but Louise’s recipes have less refined sugar and more whole ingredients, so you can still be healthy without missing out on dessert! Here, Louise tells of her foodie passions…

What would we find in your fridge?

In the spring, plenty of asparagus, fennel, spinach and mandarins. I also keep my baking essentials in the fridge – half a dozen different flours, a variety of seeds and nuts – as well as local organic milk, butter and eggs.

What are your pantry essentials?

Extra-virgin olive oil, quality tinned sardines, my mum’s marmalade, my sister’s preserved lemons.

Your favourite cooking appliance?

I have spent countless hours discovering the full potential of my Thermomix. It’s the sous chef that doesn’t talk back!

What’s your essential kitchen tool?

My enormous stock pot. Once a week I make an organic chicken bone broth with loads of vegetables. It bubbles away for hours and I use it in soups, sauces, casseroles, rice dishes.

What do you love cooking at home?

Making pancakes is a sacred practice in my house. I make them with plenty of eggs, hazelnut meal, mashed banana and different grains so they’re super nutritious, but my kids still see them as a total treat.

What’s your go-to meal in a hurry?

The French know what they’re ey e doing. do g. When I’m time poor, nothing beats a herb omelette and a tomato salad. Beats take-out any night.