Recipe of the month: Vegan Chocolate Pots

Two years too late but we are finally HOME for the holidays 🏡

 

You know, I had mentally prepared myself that we would be spending the year-end holidays again in Singapore. I had planned lots of fun activities to diminish the gloom of yet another year away from family and friends. But all of a sudden, travel opened up so one thing led to another and soon we had booked our tickets. Plans were made with cautious optimism. But then came the Omicron scare and unexpected changes in rules which put things on shaky ground. But after much deliberation (and a gigantic leap of faith!), we decided to go ahead with our plans because of the ghastly prospect of continued restrictions in 2022 (who knows right? 🤷🏻‍♀️). 

So during the first week of December, after an absolutely frenzied week of wrapping up work, shopping, sorting, cleaning, packing, preparing for the new school year, drowning in documents, forms, PCR tests and what not, we landed in India 😊

After spending almost two glorious weeks with my family in Mysore, we are now enjoying the remainder of our holiday in Bangalore. The weather is lovely and being at home with family is even better.

With our unexpected travel plans, I haven't been able to maintain a consistent blogging schedule. I had planned a few posts for December but I haven't been able to execute any of them. Oh well!

If you have been following my blog, you would know that almost every year I do a Christmas special recipe post. As per my original plan, this year I wanted to make gingerbread cookies with the kids. I had even bought the cutters and all the required ingredients. But I obviously had to change plans. Being in India, I decided to do something simpler and also make it vegan because my BIL and his wife (who are currently holidaying in India with us) have been vegan for many years and I wanted them to be able to enjoy the dessert as well 😊

These Vegan Chocolate Pots literally need just THREE ingredients and take barely 10 minutes to make. There is no tofu or avocado or coconut cream which are the usual suspects in vegan desserts. I won't go as far as to say that this dessert is "healthy" (healthy-ish maybe?) but if you look at the ingredients individually, they are all good stuff. Of course, you need to wait a few hours for the dessert to chill in the refrigerator but otherwise, this is the most simplest dessert you can put together. In case you don't want to make it vegan, just substitute almond milk with regular dairy milk. 

The incorporation of dates imparts enough sweetness to this dessert so you can go for 100% cocoa chocolate. I have used 70% dairy-free chocolate because that is what was available over here on short notice. I garnished the dessert with strawberries to offset the extra sweetness. We absolutely loved the smooth mousse like texture. It felt like eating luscious nutty chocolate spread out of a cup.

This is a great make-ahead dessert that looks pretty, tastes good and will appeal to almost everyone with the exception of those weirdos who don't like chocolate (sorry 😄). 

 

I hope you try it and love it the same way my family did.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year  

Vegan Chocolate Pots

Preparation time: 5-10 min; Cook time: 2 min; Setting time: Overnight in the fridge

Makes: 4-5 servings

Recipe category: Dessert/Western

Recipe level: Very easy

Recipe source: Adapted from here

Ingredients:

6 oz unsweetened chocolate (70-100% cocoa)

1 and 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)

1 cup (about 12) dates, pitted and chopped

A pinch of salt

1/4 tsp instant coffee powder, Optional

Berries of choice and/or chocolate shavings for garnish, Optional

Method:

1. Measure out all the ingredients

2. Roughly chop the chocolate into chunks. Melt in the microwave or using a double boiler until smooth. I have used a double boiler.

3. In a blender, combine the chopped dates and half of the almond milk. Blend on high till it turns smooth. You do not want any chunks of dates remaining. Add the rest of the almond milk and blend on high until smooth.

4. Add the melted chocolate, salt and instant coffee and blend again until well combined.

5. Pour into individual bowls or jars. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight until set.

6. Garnish with strawberries or raspberries. You can also sprinkle dark chocolate shavings, chocolate chips or cacao nibs. 

7. You can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Notes:

• Keep in mind that the dates are already quite sweet so use chocolate containing at least 70% cocoa
• Do not use sweetened plant-based or dairy milk or else the dessert will be too sweet. Make sure that what you are using is unsweetened milk

Cheers,

Megha