Chocolate Mousse - mini tarts

 

On my last night in Salvador, BA, I made a dinner at my parent's house for some of their friends. It was a lovely summer night and everybody was enjoying dinner as expected. However when I served the dessert I got an unexpected wow from everyone at the table and I decided to share this recipe with you, my beloved readers. And I have to thank Sarah Britton the author of the blog "my new roots" where I got the original recipe from and have adapted it. Sarah makes this dessert entirely raw, but I can't let go of the crunchiness of a baked crust, especially when served with something sooo smooth such as this mousse. It makes a great contrast and therefore a perfect combination. So here it is:


Ingredients:

Crust:
1/2 cup almonds (you can use, walnuts, hazelnut, cashews or a mixture of all of them)
1/2 cup oats
2 tablespoons real brown sugar*
2 tablespoons coconut oil

Filling:
1 large Florida avocado (the only one found in Brazil - if you don't find the Florida kind, substitute for 3 Hass avocado)
10 dates, soaked
2 tablespoon real brown sugar
2 tablespoon cocoa powder

Procedure:
1- Preheat oven to 350ºC.
2- Place the almonds (or the nut mixture), oats, brown sugar and cocoa powder in the food processor and pulse until mixture is roughly ground. 
3- Remove the mixture from the food processor and place it in a bowl and add the coconut oil.
4- Get a muffin pan, scoop out a little bit of the almond mixture and press firmly in the muffin cup.
5- Place the muffin pan in the oven and bake it for about 10 min.
6- Let it cool, and carefully remove the crust from the muffin pan by running a knife around the perimeter to loosen, then lift out.
7- Chop the dates.
8- Cut open all the avocados and scoop them out into a clean food processor. Blend. Add the other ingredients and blend to incorporate.
10- Place the avocado mousse on top of the crust and garnish with some fresh mint and fruits.

Since I was in Salvador when I prepared this recipe, and couldn't think of any other fruit to garnish this dish other than Siriguela (Spondias purpurea) or Jocote in English. Siriguela is very rich in Calcium, Potassium and Vitamin C. And the best thing is that it is naturally available in all seasons however only in the Northeast of Brazil.

*When I say real brown sugar I mean the least processed form of granulated sugar, which still retain some vitamins and minerals of the sugar cane. However, I can only find this brown sugar in Brazil. In New York, brown sugar means white sugar with added caramel color and trace of molasses for flavor purposes. Unbelievable right!?!?!? But if you live in the US and want to enjoy a unrefined  and dry form of sugar, I suggest you use, jaggery, coconut sugar or date sugar (always in small amounts and in moderation).