Chocolate Avocado Mousse Parfaits (Recipe ReDux)

It's Recipe ReDux time, and this month's theme was all about no-bake desserts.

 

I don't actually make a lot of desserts unless we're bringing something to a party, since my usual go-to after dinner treat is a square of dark chocolate. But when I saw this month's theme two things popped into my head. First, this whole "chocolate avocado mousse" trend has been making its round on the blogs and Pinterest for a while and I've sort of wanted to try it, but never wanted to sacrifice a beautifully ripe avocado for a dessert that would mask its flavor. But since we're trying to eat low carb as much as possible and I needed to come up with a no-bake dessert for the ReDux, I figured it was finally time to start playing around with this chocolatey concoction.

Second, Heather & Kevin were coming over for dinner last weekend and I wanted to serve some kind of dessert, of course. Heath & Kev try to eat healthy too so I knew they'd be open to a funky dessert, but it was Saturday night after all, so the trick was to come up with something semi good for us but that also was delicious and worthy of calling a sweet treat.

Mission accomplished! I've seen a lot of recipes for this mousse that actually only use two ingredients - cocoa and avocado - but I wasn't sold on that. I blended the two up and realized that yes, the texture of cocoa powder and ripe avocado is unbelievably smooth and thick like a chocolate mousse, and yes you can't taste the avocado at all - but, it was too cocoa-y and didn't have any flavor.

Add some agave, fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream, and well, now you've got yourself a parfait-in-a-jar that has the perfect amount of sweetness, richness and lightness.

I topped them off with a sprinkling of toasted walnuts and chocolate chips for a bit of crunch.

Great for a treat by yourself, or to share with friends.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse Parfaits

Serves 4

Ingredients - Mousse

2 ripe avocados

1/2 cup cocoa powder

4 Tbsp. agave syrup (substitute honey if desired)

1 tsp. vanilla

Pinch sea salt

Ingredients - Filling

4 cups strawberries, sliced

3 tsp. stevia or sugar

1 1/4 cup whipping cream

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Toasted walnuts and chocolate chips for garnish

To make the mousse, combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend well until very smooth. Pour into a bowl and set in the fridge while you make the other fillings.

In a separate bowl, combine sliced strawberries and 3 tsp. stevia or sugar. Mix well and set aside to macerate for a little while.

Lastly, add the cream, sugar and vanilla to a cold mixing bowl and whip on high for 3-4 minutes, until the cream forms soft peaks. 

Once all fillings are complete, set up an assembly line of mason jars or parfait glasses, and layer as follows:

- Mousse

- Strawberries

- Whipped cream

- Repeat once

- Top with toasted walnuts and chocolate chips

Parfaits may be eaten immediately or stored in the refrigerator for several hours.