AIP pots de creme - egg-free, dairy-free coconut custard set with gelatin, topped with roasted strawberries and basil

This one asks more of you than a smoothie. A water bath, 4 ramekins, a real hour in the oven. If you've been telling yourself the elimination phase only allows for the simplest food you can throw together, this is proof that isn't true. You can still make something that takes patience and comes out looking like it belongs in a real kitchen.

Gelatin is what sets this custard instead of eggs, and glycine is the amino acid that comes along with it, useful material for a gut lining working to rebuild itself. Coconut milk gives the custard its body, and the roasted strawberries and basil on top are there for brightness against all that richness. Keep the framing modest. This is a real dessert made from real food.

If strawberries are a histamine trigger on your low-histamine protocol, roasted blueberries or peaches do the same job. Let the custards chill fully before you serve them. A little cold makes the texture worth the wait.

Ingredients

Custard:

• 2 cups coconut milk, divided
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder (swapped in for the source's vanilla extract, which carries alcohol)
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons gelatin

Topping:

• 1 pound strawberries, hulled
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Method

Heat the oven to 325F.

Blend 1.5 cups of the coconut milk with the honey, vanilla powder, cinnamon, and salt until smooth.

Warm the remaining 1/2 cup coconut milk gently until steaming, then whisk or stir in the gelatin until it fully dissolves. Blend this into the rest of the custard base so it is evenly combined.

Divide the custard among four 6-ounce ramekins. Set the ramekins in a baking dish and pour in enough hot water to come partway up their sides for a water bath. Bake about 60 minutes, until the custards are set.

During the last 15 minutes of baking, roast the hulled strawberries with the 2 tablespoons honey and the chopped basil in their own small dish.

Let everything cool. Puree the roasted berries, spoon them over the custards, and chill before serving.

A note on the swap: the source uses vanilla extract, which contains alcohol and sits in the reintroduction stage of AIP. Vanilla powder gives the same flavor and keeps the dessert inside strict elimination.

For a low-histamine version, swap the strawberries for a lower-histamine fruit such as roasted blueberries or peaches.

An Instant Pot version is not sensible here; the gentle, even water-bath set is what gives these their silky texture, and the oven does that best. This dish stays oven, with no air fryer variation.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*