Avocado Chocolate Mousse

Serves 2-3

   

Oh yeaaaaah, talk about smooth, creamy, sweet, velvety luxuriousness. Chocolate mousse made from avocado is something I’ve been meaning to try for a long time, and something about which, no matter many good reviews I’d read or overheard, I was still a little doubtful. The moment of truth came when I was brainstorming dairy-free dessert ideas for my nephew. His mom just had a baby and we’re bringing dinner over next week. He’s almost four, so I know he hasn’t been exposed to loads of different desserts and can only, realistically, be so bummed about his allergy and about all the desserts that he misses out on—I imagine the biggest ones in his mind are birthday cake and ice cream. But I still like to think outside the box for him, when possible. I resist just making cookies with margarine or shortening because I love a culinary challenge, and it brings me such joy when someone gets to eat something they thought they never would. Case in point: chocolate mousse for the lactose intolerant. Long story short, I had an extra avocado lying around and decided to give it a go last night. Actually, I have to admit another motivation: Sawyer has refused avocado his whole short life. This, to me, is the greatest freaking mystery on the planet. Every other baby we knew, during the phase of introducing solids, loved avocado. Most of them still like it. But his categorical refusal of anything green has branded this food for him, and it drives me crazy. Every time he sees it in something he says, “mama I don’t want dat green bean!” Saying that it’s an avocado and not a green bean is beyond pointless. So I thought, “If I can get this mule-child têtu to eat avocado mousse, my hope in his future will be restored.” (Because I’m pretty sure avocado is the first step on the path toward world peace.) So, back to the mousse: I consulted a few recipes and ended up winging the simplest version possible—many variations have cashew, peanut or almond butter, but as you probably know, lactose intolerance often goes hand-in-hand with nut allergies, as is the case with my nephew. So here’s more or less what I included:

1 ripe avocado

1/4 C maple syrup

2 Tbs soy milk

2 Tbs dark cocoa

pinch of salt

Put it all in the blender or food processor and process until smooth. The result? Is it as good as they say? I’d venture to say it’s better. Truly. It’s like the greatest culinary hornswoggle ever, but, like, a horswoggle for good. A world peace farce, if you will. However: as someone who has both made and eaten a lot of chocolate mousse, here and abroad, it is not—in the spirit of full disclosure—very much like mousse. It’s more like chocolate cake batter pudding…which is maybe even better.

As you can see, it was a big hit with monsieur anti-veg. Maybe when he’s 18 he’ll learn the truth about his new favorite dessert.