Creamy chocolate moussy pudding! (Gluten & Egg Free)

Yes, by the title of this post you can see that I had trouble defining exactly what this chocolate creation actually is!  I don't think you would be wrong to say it is a custard, a pudding or a mousse, as it has elements of each of these in one.



Typically though, these desserts aren't considered overly healthy, and are sometimes a bit involved.  I wanted to change that, and so set to work in an attempt to add some nutrition and 'real foods', simplify the process, and create a chocolate dessert that could be eaten by people avoiding gluten and egg too!

The Thermomix obviously makes light work of most things, and this is no exception, although as always I have included the coventional method below too!

Raw cacao, raw cashews, rapadura sugar, vanilla extract, organic cornflour, butter and milk (coconut or other milks of your choice could be used although the more watery, lower fat milks may require an extra tbs of cornflour or more cashews) are all that is required here - making it a great snack for kids, providing them with protein, calcium, lots of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants from the cacao!  Actually it reminded me slightly of the chocolate custard 'YoGo', or 'Snack', although it is safe to say this recipe contains a lot less sugar, less processing and more 'whole food' ingredients.

For the adults, this can be served as pictured below with sugared almond slithers (I just sliced up some raw almonds and tossed them through some rapadura sugar and coconut oil that I melted together in a saucepan), fresh fruit of the season, a reduced espresso/rapadura syrup, or even a coconut cream (try Quirky Cookings version towards the bottom of the page here).

Funnily enough the mixture actually tastes like a chocolate milkshake so it may not even make it to the steamer!  You could also eat the steamed puddings warm with a scoop of ice cream, or leave them to set further and chill in the fridge to turn out the following day or at least a few hours later.  Quite a multipurpose recipe really!  I'm also thinking that I could try it out in my ice cream maker!  Hmmm, leave that with me ( ;

So these are steamed.  If you don't have a steamer, microwaving them would work although I have to admit I try to use the microwave as little as possible these days so haven't tested the time it would take but in small 125mL ramekins I would suggest probably 2-4 minutes (Depending on the power of your microwave) would be enough to set the 'custard'.  Just keep an eye on them and let us know how you go!
The quantity of mix fit perfectly into 7 x 125mL dariole moulds - which fit perfectly into the Thermomix Varoma dish!  If your moulds are bigger or smaller, fit as many as you can in the dish and you may need to cook two lots.  

OK, enough talk, here's the recipe!  Enjoy......

Creamy Chocolate moussy pudding! (Gluten & Egg Free)

Ingredients

70g raw cashews (use cashew butter if you dont have a high powered machine able to produce fine meal)
1/4 c (20g) raw cacao powder
1 tbs organic cornflour
1/2 c (75g) rapadura sugar (coconut sugar or brown sugar could also be used)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4c (560ml) full fat/regular milk (see above for my suggestion on different milks)
2 tbs (30g) butter

Method - Conventional

1. Prepare your steamer according to instructions.
2. If using raw cashews, blend to a fine meal/paste in your food processor/blender before adding remaining ingredients and blending on top speed for a couple of minutes or until smooth and creamy.  If using the cashew butter, just place all ingredients in blender/food processor and blend as described above.
3. Pour mix into 7 x 125mL moulds and place carefully into the steamer.  Cook for 15-20 minutes.  Cooking time will depend on the steamer used, however you are looking for a set custard - wobbly but set.
4. Remove carefully from steamer and place in fridge to chill and set further.  
5. Once chilled, serve with your desired accompaniments.

Method - Thermomix

1. Place cashews in TM bowl.  Grind on speed 9 for 30 seconds.  Scrap bowl to loosen meal.
2. Add cacao powder, cornflour and sugar.  Blend on speed 10 for 15 seconds.
3. Scrape bowl again.  Add remaining ingredients and slowly increase speed to speed 10, blending for 1 minute.  Scrape bowl again and blend for a further 20 seconds on speed 10.
4. Pour mix into 7 x 125mL moulds and place into Varoma dish.  Rinse out TM bowl and lid and fill with 1 Lt of hot water.  Place covered Varoma dish on top of lid and steam for 21 minutes at Varoma temp, speed 4.
5. When finished, carefully tip lid away from you to ensure you don't burn yourself and to avoid the condensation on the lid from falling onto the puddings.
6. Follow steps 4-5 above.