Chilli chocolate avocado pudding, and another Easiyo convert

In the past 14 months, I have posted six avocado-based dessert recipes. Today takes the count to seven. It's not a huge number - indeed, just one per two months - but it is starting to feel like a pattern.

Fortunately, I don't mind.

Today's recipe is really just a spin off of standard chocolate avocado pudding, but it is a spin off that I like very much. In addition to avocado, cocoa and agave syrup, there are strawberries and chilli powder in the ingredient list. The strawberries allow the amount of agave to be reduced, while the chilli adds a delightful depth and that subtle warmth that goes so well with chocolate.

If you are yet to try the chocolate chilli combination, this is a good way to do it. You can control how much chilli you put in, and because the dessert is cold, it offsets the spice quite wonderfully.

Still need convincing? There's more fruit in this dessert than anything else. You can make it in 5 minutes flat. And if you want, you can even eat it straight out of the food processor, bypassing the fridge altogether.

I'm not sure what more I could ask for in a dessert.

Chilli chocolate avocado pudding

This is everything good, in all ways!

Makes 1 large serve or 2 small

Vegan

Print recipe

Ingredients

1 small avocado (mine was 115g with skin and stone / 65g avocado flesh)

4 large strawberries, washed, stems removed, and chopped in half

2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder

1 tbsp agave syrup (or maple syrup)

1/4 - 1/2 tsp chilli flakes or powder (1/4 tsp will give just a hint of spice)

Method

Process the avocado and strawberries in a food processor until smooth.

Add the cocoa, agave and chilli and process again to combine. Chill in the fridge and serve alone or with extra strawberries.

This really is far more decadent than the ingredient list would suggest. I think I could eat it daily, and I may well end up doing so.

The other chocolate news for today is that of the yoghurt kind, with Mr Bite being brave enough to venture into the world of EasiYo. You may remember that I converted to homemade yoghurt this time last year, with the aid of the EasiYo brand. Since then, my Mum has also started using their system. I still use the plain, fat-free EasiYo sachets as my basic go-to yoghurt base. I have yoghurt a lot less than I used to, aided by the increased availability of non-dairy milk products, but it is one of my remaining dairy exceptions. Since last year, I always make it at home.

Chocolate yoghurt, in need of a stir

Mr Bite takes a flavoured yoghurt to work each day, but recently we have had great trouble finding his yoghurt flavours of choice. This is partially due to Coles' insistence on dropping brands from their range (seemingly in order to stock their own Coles range products, most of which we don't want or like), and partially due to at least one yoghurt company (Brownes) recently re-branding their stock and dropping a few flavours. Given  the increasing challenges, I suggested we try out a chocolate EasiYo mixture. Mr Bite has fond childhood memories of homemade chocolate yoghurt, and I figured it was a good time to try and re-create them.

Stirring in process

The title of this post may be a little exaggerated, as our first batch wasn't quite right and I don't think he's quite a convert yet. We bought a plain (natural) EasiYo sachet, which suggested adding 2 - 4 tbsp of sugar if you wanted a sweet yoghurt. We used 4 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp cocoa, but I wasn't convinced it would be sweet enough for someone used to commercial yoghurt varieties. To avoid it being too tart, I also set the yoghurt for the minimum recommended time - 8 hours - instead of the 12 hours I usually do for my own. The yoghurt gets thicker with standing time, but also tarter.

The resulting yoghurt was still deemed a little too tart by Mr Bite, but also a little too runny. Next time we will use more sugar and increase the setting time. Still, he has proclaimed this batch edible and I am taking that as success.

Ready to eat

It will be a bit more hassle for him to transfer yoghurt into a small plastic container before work, and then wash said container after work, but if we can get the flavour and consistency right then EasiYo will be easier than searching multiple supermarkets for appropriate yoghurt flavours, much cheaper, and I suspect better for him too. All in all, I am hoping we can get there!

What chocolate desserts have featured in your house lately (if at all)?
If you're a yoghurt eater, what is your preferred type?

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