In honor of the chocolate recipes featured in the February issue of LA Yoga Magazine, we bring you another opportunity to excite your taste buds with this delectable vegan delight, Raw Chocolate Mousse by Alicia Ojeda.
Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients:
3 medium avocados, skinned and pitted (approximately 1 ½ cups )
½ cup medjool dates, pitted and soaked in 1/3 cup water
½ cup maple syrup, coconut syrup, agave nectar, or coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla extract
¾ cup raw cacao powder
½ to 1 cup water, or more, as desired
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon or more to taste
pinch of salt
Instructions:
Place the softened soaked dates, liquid sweeteners and vanilla extract in a food processor fitted with the S blade and process until the dates are smooth. Scrape down the sides.
Add the avocado, cacao powder, salt and ½ cup of the water; process until creamy. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the remaining water and process until smooth and well incorporated.
Stored in a sealed glass container. Mousse will keep 3-5 days refrigerated and up to two weeks in the freezer.
Serve chilled.
Serving Information:
For a decadent presentation, layer the mousse with fresh raspberries in a parfait dish. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.
This mousse is also delicious served as a fondue for fresh seasonal berries or bananas.
Variations:
For a thinner sauce, increase water to onecup, then pour into a squeeze bottle for ease of drizzling.
Add ¼ teaspoon almond extract when processing and serve sprinkled with chopped soaked and dehydrated almonds.
For “fudge-cicle” squares, pour mousse into ice cube trays and freeze. Thaw for five minutes before serving.
Chef Alicia Ojeda is a vegan living foods chef and educator who is a staff instructor at The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts in Austin, Texas.
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.