Last weekend I tried out a dish I have been curious about for ages. It was one of those chocolate avocado tarts that the vegans and raw food enthusiasts of the interweb claim to be as good as chocolate mousse. I’m neither vegan nor a raw foodie but am interested in dairy-free chocolate alternatives.
A found a recipe for one in a book I had at home which claimed it “had gained a reputation” in the town in which the author lived. Sounded like a winner.
This tart was to be consumed at a Saturday night gathering of some of my dearest acupuncture friends. And I have to say that the original chocolate avocado mix was a disaster! It tasted just as appetising as chocolate mixed with avocado sounds. So with much tinkering I resurrected it into the tart you find here. Still not confident that this was up-to-scratch to serve to my foodie health professional friends I considered swinging past the local shops for an emergency offering of a box of chocolates, just in case but ran out of time. I was lucky that being August in Queensland we have an abundance of fresh strawberries, some of which had been sold to me in a big punnet the day before at the clinic, fresh from the farm. These would have to do.
The funny thing was that everyone at the gathering had experienced either cooking or take-away food disasters (which all turned out well in the end) for the food brought along that night. I wasn’t alone.
The tart once significantly tinkered with, refridgerated, then popped into the freezer briefly, decorated with strawberries and topped with toasted shredded coconut was actually quite popular. I was shocked and relieved. A comment was even made that if I hadn’t mentioned that avocado was an ingredient they would not have been able to tell.
Being a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, I couldn’t resist including (un)crystallised ginger to the base and ground cinnamon and ginger to the chocolate mix to enhance the digestibility, warmth and balance to what is essentially a very cold, rich, yin-style dessert.
So here you go, the significantly-tinkered-with-recipe that was almost a disaster but turned out to be quite delicious in the end (as pictured):
Chocolate strawberry tart
Ingredients:
Base:
- 2/3 cup pitted dates, chopped
- 20g naked ginger uncrystallised, chopped
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 2/3 cup desiccated coconut
Filling:
- 150g organic, fair trade dark chocolate (70-85%)
- 4 small avocados
- 1 tablespoon nut butter (I used almond, brazil and cashew nut butter)
- 5 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger, ground
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
Topping:
- Large punnet of fresh strawberries, sliced.
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
Method:
- Grease a tart dish.
- Gently toast almonds and coconut until golden in pan.
- Add to food processor and blend. Add dates and ginger pieces to almonds and coconut. Blend until mixture sticks together. Add some extra dates if mixture is not sticky enough.
- Add mixture to tart dish and spread evenly over base and sides, using your clean fist to press mixture down firmly. Put aside.
- Melt chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.
- Blend avocados in clean food processor until smooth. Add in melted chocolate, nut butter, maple syrup, ginger and cinnamon, blend until mixed well.
- Spoon chocolate avocado mix into tart base and smooth on top.
- Refridgerate until 30 minutes prior to serving.
- Gently toast shredded coconut until golden. Remove from pan and set aside for topping.
- Place tart in freezer for 30 minutes then top with sliced fresh strawberries and toasted shredded coconut.
If you so desire, you may serve this tart with cream (or a dairy-free substitute) with a touch of cointreau.
To book an appointment at the clinic or further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture). Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), massage therapy and natural health.
