'No Avocado' Healthy Vegan Chocolate mousse

I have wanted to make a healthy/raw/glu free/vegan chocolate mousse for a while now but most recipes I have seen call for Avocados which I cannot have.

I had this Coconut butter hanging around for a while after purchasing it by accident. I find the taste quite over-powering so I haven't been sure what to do with..until today.

I am so impressed with myself for this recipe. It's my favourite sweet healthy treat to date. It is so so tasty!

Ingredients:

Half can pumpkin puree

4 tbsp Cocoa Power

1 1/2 tbsp honey

generous sprinkle nutmeg

generous sprinkle cinnamon

3/4 cup Almond milk

3 bananas

Place all ingredients into blender/food processor and then eat!

I also popped some into moulds and then into the freezer. Yummy result but I personally preferred the mousse version. 

Your-Favourite-Chocolate Chocolate Cake

This cake is a little bit naughty as we're using a little sugar and a lot of chocolate. The best thing about this cake is that you can use your favourite chocolate bar for the topping. Hence the name! I have slightly adapted two recipes by ChocolateCoveredKatie

Ingredients (Cake)

1 1/2 Cups Wholewheat Flour

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

4 tbsp Cocoa Power

1/3 Cup Stevia

1/3 Cup Organic Sugar

1 1/2 tbsp  Pure vanilla extract

1/3 Cup Oil

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

3/4 Water

(Frosting)

Firm Tofu (I used Cauldron 396g) pressed

1 tbsp cocoa powder

200g of your fave chocolate bars (I used green&blacks as shown above)

2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

2 tbsp milk of your choice

4 tbsp Agave

Preheat Oven to 190c. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl with a fork and then add and mix the wet ingredients. Pour into a baking tray. Bake for 30mins.

Whilst cake is in the oven you can make the frosting. Please use a good food processor or an electric hand blender. A regular blender will not do and you have limited time before the chocolate cools so need to get it blended fast.  Melt the chocolate and then pop all of the ingredients into the bowl and blend until smooth. Refrigerate and then cover cake with frosting once cooled. 

I had a lot of frosting left over. I decided to pop this into a tub to eat separately as it's so good, but you could easily make thicker frosting.

Mixed fruit & spinach spice smoothie

I want to get more greens in my smoothies but I don't want to taste the greens.

So I made this smoothie and packed it full of my favourite fruits as well as some lovely organic spinach.

Ingredients:

tsp nutmeg

4 bananas

1 papaya

1 passion fruit

1orange

2 cups strawberries

2 cups spinach

1 1/2 cups Water (more or less depending on how thick you like it)

Method:

Blend everything together and pour!

What's great about this is the thickness of mine actually set and turned to to a jelly like consistency after taking the photos. I thought this was really quite yummy. AND no spinachy taste whatsoever. 

Exotic smoothie

I try to keep my smoothies as clean, raw and 'non gourmet' as possible, especially when they're my first meal of the day and when my body is feeling particularly in need of healing foods. During these times I tend to turn to bananas as they are packed with nutrients, filling, creamy, sweet and contain substantial energy.

Here's an idea of how many bananas I have on stand by:

Ingredients:

5 bananas

1 mango

1 passion fruit

Water

Method:

Blend together the bananas, mango and water (how much depends on how thick you like it). 

Pour and then add passion fruit on top and stir into the smoothie. 

Four Layer Chocolate Brownie

These chocolate Brownies are devine. Dates in the recipe mixed with Pecan nuts create a gooey caramel like taste and consistency. I love using cardamon in sweet recipes, if you don't already - I would highly recommend it for it's smokey sweet taste. 

INGREDIENTS

Pecan Nuts 

Almonds

Cashew Nuts

Cinnamon

Cardamon (4/5 pods placed into enough boiled water to cover well and leave to cool)

Dates

Water

Honey

Maple Syrup

Pumpkin Puree

Cocoa Powder

Cocoa Butter

EQUIPMENT

Matstone Juicer (or Food Processor)

Baking tray

LAYER ONE

1/2 Cup Almonds 

1/2 Cup Pecans

1 cup dates

Put all of the ingredients through the Matstone on the nut butter setting and then mix well until you have a sticky mixture. 

Press into the baking tray to cover the base and then place into freezer whilst you work on next layer.

LAYER TWO

1 Cup Dates

1/2 Cup Almonds

Dash of water

Water from the Cardamon pods

2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup

Run the Dates and Almonds through the Matsone on the Nut butter setting and then into a mixing bowl with the other ingredients. Mix with a spoon until sticky, with a slightly runny consistency like honey. Add more or less water until desired consistency. 

Take tray from freezer and spoon the mixture on top.

Place back into freezer.

LAYER THREE

1/2 Can Pumpkin Puree

1/2 Cup Cashew Nuts

2 Tablespoons Honey

1 1/2 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder

Teaspoon Cinnamon  

My secret vegan ingredient:

Libby's Pumpkin puree! This is an American product and so far i've found it in Waitrose and Budgens. This could easily be substituted for Sweet Potato, baked and peeled. 

For the third layer put the cashew nuts through the Mastone on the nut butter setting. Then pop into a mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients and stir until all mixed together. Bring out the baking tray and spoon onto the baking tray. Place back into freezer for around 40 minutes until set. 

LAYER FOUR

1/2 Cup Cocoa Butter

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 Tablespoon Honey

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

Melt the Cocoa Butter on a very low heat in a saucepan and then pour into a mixing bowl with the other ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour this final layer onto the baking tray and then it should set straight away.

Enjoy!