Creamy dark chocolate pudding or shake....you decide!

I am dreaming of chocolate...probably...as I'm trekking up mountains as you read this!

I know being the week after Easter you are probably now screaming at the screen... 'no more chocolate, i'm all chocolated out'  Maybe? Maybe not?

Either way, you'll enjoy this chocolate treat, super chocolatey, BUT super light and healthy (i'm still enjoying my sugar free explorations!) and best of all you can make it two ways. A thick after dinner chocolate pudding or a dreamy creamy chocolate shake. Just a slight tweak or ingredients gives you both options...can't decide? half and half the mixture after the first stage before adding the rest. Its not too sickly sweet, more of a dark chocolate twang, and it has a great lower fat and higher protein content. The banana taste is very subtle in the background and so barely noticeable (in my opinion).

Ok, so if you've got a little impatient and have already scrolled down to the recipe you'll have noticed the first item in the list... black beans! Have any of you guessed where this concoction was inspired from?

Yes...these babies!  When making a batch of truffles I always add a little soy milk to the remains in the processor and then blitz to loosen the mixture from the blades and sides before washing the Thermomix bowl out... It makes a fab chocolate milk, so then I tweaked it a little added a few extra bits to turn it in to a super creamy shake.  Simple! just make sure you blend and blend... I recommend straining the mixture through a sieve into the glass before drinking it so make sure it is super smooth, this is less important for the pudding as you wont notice the odd tiny piece of bean or date fibre.

The topping you see is my own so light but decadent newly created coconut flour frosting...it is what inspired this creation, so you can probably figure it out for yourself if you want to give it a try, but I will write up the post in full for you next week. Dust with cacoa nibs and you are good to go!

Recipe: Chocolate pudding or shake...you decide! 

Serves 2-3

Ingredients: chocolate shake

½ cup black beans

1 small mashed banana (1/4 cup approx)

3 tbs date paste (or 4 softened dates)

A pinch of stevia to taste

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

Approx 2 cups milk of choice (I’ve tried with both almond and soy)

1 tbs melted coconut oil

Note for a chocolate pudding reduce the milk to 1 ½ cups and increase coconut oil to 2 tbs)

Method

Process the beans, banana and dates until you have a thick smooth paste. Add remaining ingredients and blend until very smooth. Pour into serving glasses or bowls and chill for approx 30 minutes until thickened.  If serving as a shake strain through a sieve.

Serve in tall glasses or short bowls...perfect with a coconut cream topping... recipe to come next week! sorry to make you wait :-)

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Banoffee milkshake

This was an accidental concoction. One of those instances when you are with a friend (actually the ex-Boy who was missing my healthy sweets) when asked to ‘create something’ for dessert. Knowing that there would be very few ingredients to hand I rummaged through the food cupboards on a mission….

Luckily, I chanced upon these ingredients, he’s vegan so I had figured I’d be able to pulls something out of the bag! The packet of carob flour was also once mine that I given him a few months back to jazz up his protein shakes and oats….so it came into good use here.

There are two really great things about this recipe:

1-      It is so easy to through together with a simple hand blender (or any blender)

2-      It has a lovely subtle sweetness with none of the ingredients dominating to overall taste 9yet you can taste the banana but it is not overly dominant)

I loved this shake so much I made another the very next day for it’s own photoshoot…any excuse, right?  I haven’t tried this but I would think you could also add a handful of crushed ice to the mix to slightly reduce the richness of the shake without reducing the overall thickness, this would also give it a cooling summer chill.

The carob in this recipe gives a lovely caramelly sweetness that really compliments the bananas, the peanut butter adds a full flavoured nutty richness. You could use any nut butter but the peanut butter flavour works really well to balance the carob and banana. Similarly, you could swap cocoa for carob but you would loose the subtle caramelly tones and also since carob is naturally sweet you’d need to add some extra sweetener.

Perfect serve up with some super-healthy fudge…I just can’t stop making this stuff!!

Recipe: Banoffee milkshake

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

1 medium ripe banana

1 ½ cups ‘milk’ (I used soy)

2 tbs peanut butter

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tsp carob

1-2 tsp agave to sweeten (if needed)

Method

Blend together until totally smooth. Pour into glasses and serve. Chilling is optional.

Note: add a handful of crushed ice for a cooler shake.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.