Chocolate Avocado Mousse is so simple to prepare you won’t believe it! Best of all, sinfully rich and healthful peacefully coexist in this Paleo-friendly and refined sugar-free dessert!
Several weeks ago, I was in a grocery store having a conversation with an employee about cheese when a rack of cookbooks nearby caught my eye. One cookbook in particular–The Paleo Chef by Nick Evans–caught my eye.
I’ve had a love-hate relationship with anything “Paleo.” A number of my clients have requested I cook the “Paleo” diet because it’s the hottest “diet” going. The framework of the diet is pretty straightforward–just eat the way Paleolithic man would have eaten.
What is the Paleo diet?
The diet has you avoiding all dairy, grains, legumes, refined sugar and anything processed. In other words, you want to keep what you consume to vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and grass-fed, organic or wild-caught proteins.
Never mind that Paleolithic man only lived to be 20 years old but that’s another discussion.
This cookbook caught my eye because I had never seen a Paleo cookbook written by a real, living and breathing CHEF. There are A LOT of really great recipes in this cookbook and I will be making many of them simply because they sound and LOOK wonderful and the photography is stunning!
How to make Chocolate Avocado Mousse:
I decided to try the Chocolate Avocado Mousse and eagerly made it according to the recipe. It was good, however, the amount of chocolate called for was a bit intense for me (and I LOVE chocolate). I wished it were sweeter and I found the addition of cinnamon to be off-putting.
Chef Evans scrapes an entire vanilla bean into the mousse. However, because of the cinnamon, I didn’t taste the vanilla at all. It was a waste of an expensive ingredient in my opinion.
Here is the result of my tweaking his Chocolate Avocado Mousse recipe. My husband even enjoyed this dessert and he doesn’t like avocados.
If you’re super-serious about the Paleo lifestyle, you’ll want to make sure the chocolate is as unprocessed as possible, use raw honey and use a vanilla bean or pure vanilla bean paste instead of the extract (which can contain sugar).
One other note: The first time I made this Chocolate Avocado Mousse, the dates (which I purchased at Whole Foods) blended perfectly into the mousse.
The second time, I used dates from The Fresh Market which may not have been as fresh because I had little “date lumps” that I could not get rid of. My solution was to press the mousse through a fine-mesh sieve and it worked beautifully.
Enjoy!
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Chocolate Avocado Mousse
Chocolate Avocado Mousse is so simple to prepare you won't believe it! Best of all, sinfully rich and healthful peacefully coexist in this Paleo-friendly and refined sugar-free dessert!
Chocolate Avocado Mousse is so simple to prepare you won't believe it! Best of all, sinfully rich and healthful peacefully coexist in this Paleo-friendly and refined sugar-free dessert!
Ingredients
- 6 Medjool dates
- 2 large ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Unsweetened coconut flakes
- Chopped hazelnuts
Instructions
- Soak the dates in hot tap water for 1 hour. Drain.
- Pit the dates and remove as much skin you can.
- Combine dates, avocados, cocoa powder, honey and vanilla extract in a food processor or blender.
- Process until smooth and fluffy.
- If any date "bits" won't incorporate and smooth out, press mousse mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.
- Serve in glasses with unsweetened coconut flakes and chopped hazelnuts or fresh fruit such as strawberries or raspberries.
Notes
MAKE AHEAD: The mousse will turn slightly darker upon standing, however it does not affect the flavor at all. If you don't mind the color change, this can be made two days ahead.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1173Total Fat: 73gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 55gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 21mgCarbohydrates: 134gFiber: 28gSugar: 97gProtein: 17g
The nutritional information above is computer-generated and only an estimate. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
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