Chocolate Mousse

I may not have a food processor or a Vita Mix yet, but I still have a sweet tooth and a serious weakness for dark chocolate :-) When I first watched this recipe being prepared in a class, it seemed like a complicated mess that required a food processor.  I’m happy to report that it’s not and a decent blender should be fine. The recipe:

Chocolate Mousse:

• 3/4 cup of pitted medjool dates, soaked if necessary
• 1/2 cup of agave nectar or Stevia sweetener
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 medium avacados, mashed if necessary
• 3/4 cup cocoa or carob powder
• 1/2 cup water

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend to a smooth pudding/mousse.  I’ve seen other versions of this recipe that carefully described what order ingredients should be added and blended and I’m not that patient on a weeknight after a busy day at work, so I just slammed the all the ingredients into the blender including entire avocado halves and un-soaked dates. My KitchenAid handled the abuse pretty well, even though it sounded pretty taxed at times and I did have to stop and stir about 4 times. But, I actually think the end result was better than the class version texture wise. I prefer the carob powder version because it tastes and looks more like dark chocolate mousse, cocoa powder tends to produce a light, milk chocolate flavor.