Fria’s Superfoods: A Healthy Cape Town Delight
A deliciously healthy new dessert company is here! It’s called Fria’s Superfoods, created by Fria Hiemstra.
I got to spend the morning with her as she whipped up some of her delicious treats! She’s been running her company professionally for about a year now, and offers healthy, sugar free options. She started from her home out of a need to create healthier foods so her sweet tooth wouldn’t get the better of her. She built up quite a collection of food processors in the, um, process (she has 4 at her place now!), and now stocks her healthy desserts in Wellness Warehouse, among other places.
When I arrived in her workspace she was busy mixing and baking away. Everything looked delicious!
One of the things she put together for me was her…
- Roasted coffee beans (this makes them! yum!)
- Cacao powder
- Vibrant Health ProMatcha protein powder
- Xylitol (a sugar substitute)
- Toasted coconut (toasting it makes all the difference!)
- activated almonds
- activated chia seeds
- Oats
YUM! This was definitely one of my favourites!
She soaks chia seeds overnight to activate them, and grinds coffee beans for that added caffeine stimulant. She doesn’t use any refined sugar, just xylitol (which seems to be the latest healthy craze these days!). I definitely recommend trying these!
She always tastes her products while she makes them to ensure they taste right! I was lucky to be able to taste along with her.
Next, I tried:
- dates
- activated almonds (in other words, they’ve been soaked in water)
- activated buckwheat
- oats
- dried coconut
- coconut oil
- lemon juice
- lemon zest (now we’re talking!)
- Himalayan salt
- vanilla essence
Mouthwatering! And no baking required! I think these may have actually been my fave :). The zest of lemon gave them such an awesome kick. Let’s just say I could eat my fair share of these…
She also makes desserts with black beans!
- activated almonds
- black beans
- cacao
- xylitol
- raw chocolate
- Natural Vibrance ProMatcha (plant-based protein powder)
- Himalayan Salt
- vanilla essence
- sweet potato (obviously)
- activated almonds
- cacao (from @cocoafair, Fria says it’s the best!)
- sweet caramel dates
- oats
- xylitol
Yum! Sweet potato might sound a bit “healthy” for a dessert, but just remember that they’re SWEET! So you can feel good about eating something yummy.
Fun fact I learned from Fria:
Dates are high in iron! Somehow I didn’t know this…I’m not a big meat eater (I’m actually considering going fully vegetarian, what do you think, should I?), so I wasn’t terribly surprised to find out my B12 and iron counts were very low. I’ve been taking supplements to bring them back up to normal levels, but maybe I should just start eating more dates! So excited to have another reason to eat them!
I looked it up – 100g of steak is 2.4mg of iron. 100g of dates is 1mg of iron. Yes, that’s less than meat, but it’s still a relatively significant amount (even if it doesn’t sound like it). If you want another reference, spinach is obviously high in iron too (think Popeye), and 100g of spinach is 2.7mg of iron (thanks for the info, Google).
Anyway, I digress…
Fria soaks her dates in water for just a bit to make them soft and easy to use. What a great idea! I never would have thought to do that.
She never mixes containers BUT the date water that’s left over isn’t wasted! She uses it in her chocolate avocado mousse. Yum! Can’t wait to try that!
She also does a peppermint mousse: Chickpea, vanilla essence, caramel date water, coconut oil, peppermint extract, & spiralina. Just sayin’…
We even had a little helper in her kitchen! 🙂
What’s her most popular item? She reckons it’s her Snickers Cake Cup! That’s next on my list to try!
Order on her website, FriasSuperfoods.co.za or through UberEATS or OrderIN. You can even order your own customized goodie box of healthy sprouted protein treats!