I'm making a raw meal for a friend who wants to try a raw meal. She loves chocolate pudding and chocolate custards and I'd like to make this for her, for dessert, as a surprise.

Are there any tried and true recipes for this? Since she loves chocolate, I'm hoping to find one that's really chocolatey and creamy.

I have a chocolate-banana pie that I like to make from The Raw Food Gourmet. The chocolate filling is almost like a mousse. It calls for 3-4 avocados, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup carob powder, 2 Tbsp agave nectar blended in a food processor. I found the carob flavor too strong at this level, so I use 3/4 cup cocoa and only 1/4 cup carob. I don't think I've forgotten any ingredients, but I can check this evening. Also... it's not very sweet, so you may want to increase the agave.

As you can imagine from the avocados, it's incredibly creamy, but no one would ever guess they were there from the flavor.

Thanks, frances[/b. I find it hysterical that you posted that recipe because it's the same one a friend of mine on YouTube gave me! He altered it a bit, though. I posted this thread to ask for a recipe because I can't imagine avocado and chocolate being good together. I thought I'd see if there were any different recipes to compare.

It sounds like this recipe is the one to make though. I think I'll give it a go and see what happens, since I've heard great things about that cookbook. I love chocolate and banana together. Can you taste the banana?

I like your idea of 3/4 cup cocoa to 1/4 cup carob, too. That's how I'm going to make it. Below is my friend's altered version. (He went from 2 tbsp agave to 1/2 cup!)

Quote

Chocolate Banana Pie

Base:
2 cups walnuts (I've also used almonds & pecans)
1 cup pitted dates
Pinch good salt

Filling:
2 medium avocadoes
2 ripe bananas
2/3 cup chocolate powder
1/3 cup carob powder
1 dspn bee pollen
1 dspn raw honey (I used manuka honey - not sure if that's raw)
1 tspns vanilla
2 pitted dates

(If you've got agave syrup - which I didn't have - you could use 1/2 cup of that instead of the honey and bee pollen and dates in the filling)

Process the base ingredients until they're like crumbs.
Press into the base of a springform cake tin and put in the fridge (or if you're in a hurry the freezer) to set.

Process the filling ingredients until well combined. Check for sweetness & adjust to taste.

Take base out of fridge or freezer. Spoon filling into base and smooth with spatula.

Cath was very specific about not refrigerating this because of the avocadoes. I actually like it refrigerated - and it lasts longer. Your choice . . .

Enjoy!

(Here's a link to his blog, if anyone's interested.) [livingrawfooduk.blogspot.com]

That is pretty funny. There's a completely unbelievable chocolate pudding in Raw Food Real World, but the base of it is coconut meat which is kind of expensive to use in large quantities - even compared to avocado. I haven't made the coconut-based pudding, but I bought a cup of it the last time I was in New York City. Truly unbelievable.

For the avocado-based one, no one can tell that there are avocados in it. I don't blend in the bananas. I slice them onto the crust (almond crust according to the original recipe, though walnuts make a good substitute if you haven't got a source for unpasteurized almonds), then I scoop the chocolate mousse over the banana slices. The original recipe actually suggested mushing the bananas into a layer over the crust, but I like leaving the banana in distinct slices. The original recipe doesn't have dates in the filling, and I'd be afraid they wouldn't blend into perfect smoothness.

I do refrigerate the pie, but I'm not very strict about not refrigerating avocados. I like that it helps the filling to set a little. By the time avocados get shipped to New York, they're usually ripe and threatening to spoil, so I can't often afford to store them at room temperature.

I have to say, though, that two avocados don't sound like they'd make very much pudding. I'd be afraid to make more, though, due to the fat content of the avocados.

I just made banana pudding that was so easy and yummy. I put 2 cups of cashews, three very ripe bananas, a teaspoon of vanilla and a small amount of water in the food processer. I spread that in pan and put banana slices on top. I added pecan peices to mine and thought that was a nice touch.

I forgot to write an ingredient for the pudding, sweetener. I used honey but if I had had dates I would have soaked them and uesed them instead.

MauiGreg made a GREAT chocolate pudding with cacao, avocados, and agave. i would never have guessed that avocados were in there!

2 bananas
1 cup seed or nut milk
1 tablespoon lucuma
1/3 vanilla pod
1/2 tsp mixed spice
pinch sea salt

Blend with warm water, gorgeous.

[www.rawlifestyle.co.uk]
Recipes, ebooks, diary

Why not just serve a choco-holic chocolate fudge frosting in a partait glass(call it what you will)? Here is the BEST EVER raw chocolate fix:

1 cup raw, organic cacao powder
1 cup raw, organic agave nectar
1/2 cup raw, organic coconut butter (Artisana makes this product. It is just raw, organic coconut that is ground into a smooth paste and it creates the fudge-like creaminess)
Optional (nice-to-have, but not necessary):
1 T. organic vanilla powder
1 T. organic cinnamon powder
1 t. organic ginger

Serve right away. If you put in the refrigerator, it will get too hard and you'll have to set out at room temperature for a few hours. Also, if you want to amend this recipe to be a runny chocolate sauce, take the coconut butter down to about 2 Tablespoons. Let us know how it turns out!

hi marshraven

i make parfaits
and its fun
especially alternating the colors

like a layer of banana
layer of kiwi
layer of strawberry
layer of avo
layer of crushed nuts etc.
layer of apples

some of the layers are blended like the apples etc.
some need not to be

but its purty to look at
and all myf riends luv it