Lets preface this with: I don't usually tell my life story before recipes, I don't believe you guys want to hear about why I decided to make this specific meal for whoever I made it for and how they all went nuts about it and why it's connected to my childhood in some way. You're here for the food. That's okay, so am I.

That being said, this recipe holds a very special significance for me. My grandmother taught me a lot about baking and cooking. She was one awesome lady. Everyone loved her, you couldn't help it. She would invite you for lunch, teach you how to do something creative, feed you a roast of some kind and then give you a slice of pie. Her pies were famous. If you had the chance to have a mulberry or rhubarb pie at Aunty Rose's house; you did not turn that down. Those things were amazing. When I started keto I had to reconcile that there were a few things in my life that I would never eat again. My grandmother's pies, fruit mince pies and Christmas pudding. I was okay with all of this. I focused on what I could eat: cheese. My mother is a little more stubborn than I am. She decided that there was no way she was going to let this go. 

A few months ago she asked me for help coming up with a pie crust recipe. So we looked at Rosie's original recipe and figured out how to convert the carbs to well, not carbs. We had to try it a few times but when we finally got it to work... I almost couldn't believe this thing was real. We had made a pie crust that rivalled the real thing.

I know that sounds almost too good to be true but this crust browns nicely, it's flakey, it keeps its shape, the coconut flavour isn't strong at all and the best part: you can use it in savoury pies as well (with a bit of adjustment). My next mission - using it to make mince pies!

A lot of my recipes use pecan flour as the keto friendly flour replacement. I accidentally discovered this magical stuff last year when my friend started selling pecan oil. I was a bit sceptical at first because I was not previously a fan of pecans. Boy was I ever wrong. This flour bakes so well and, in my opinion, the flavour complements other flavours beautifully. It pairs really well with savoury flavours (meatballs etc.), spicy flavours (ginger, pumpkin spice etc.), and even chocolate.

It has roughly the same amount of carbs as almond flour but quite a lot less calories because it has half the fat. 

I wish I could take credit for this amazing invention. My friend Kallah Ohr from Kallah Ohr Photography created this amazing hot chocolate (posted with permission of course). The first time we had this it was at her house in Paarl and I was completely blown away by how amazing this tasted. I was sceptical at first because I LOATHE almond milk. It tastes like bitter sadness to me, so when she told me that I wouldn't taste it in here I didn't believe her of course. I ate my words. And I drank a whole lot of this stuff.

This recipe is super easy to tweak. If you want a vegan version, just leave out the cream. If you are into chocolate coffee - add a shot of espresso to this. If you want something spicier, add cinnamon, pumpkin spice, or chilli powder. The possibilities are endless.

At 5g carbs per serving, it's a little high but not bad for the occasional treat. We are about to have a cold front this weekend so all I am thinking about is hot chocolate and my book.