Vegan chocolate torte

This is yummy, a nutty biscuity base, topped with a dreamy, creamy, smooth intense thick chocolate mousse.

There is just one slightly odd factor which, have you not tried it, you may freak out. The mouse is made of dark chocolate, maple syrup and.... avocado. A lot of avocado.

Now don't panic, the dessert is not a weird green colour, and you cannot taste avocado. I could not quite bring myself to tell my partner what it contained, so I simply told him it was a mousse-y chocolate torte. He loved it and did not even enquire/notice any odd ingredients.

The arrowroot in this recipe is essential, it will thicken the chocolate mousse without being heated, do not use cornflour. Arrowroot is in all the supermarkets and is under a pound, go buy some!

So chocolate is good for the soul and avocados are good for the body, a perfect dessert I think!

Vegan chocolate torte

75g plain flour

50g ground almonds

100g caster sugar

50g light brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp arrowroot

1 tsp salt

70g coconut oil

30g golden syrup

120ml almond milk

200g vegan friendly dark chocolate

350g ripe avocado

80ml almond milk

150g maple syrup

1 tbsp arrowroot

pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla extract/paste

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and line a brownie pan with baking parchment.  For the base of the torte mix all the dry ingredients together (from plain flour to salt). Next gently warm the coconut oil in a pan until melted whisk in the golden syrup and almond milk then add to the dry ingredients and mix till thoroughly combined. 

Tip the base batter into a brownie tin and level, it will be a little tricky, the mixture is sticky! Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until golden. Remove and allow to cool. 

For the topping melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water then set aside to cool. Blend all the other ingredients in a food processor until super super smooth, you may need to scrape down the sides a couple of times. Finally add the chocolate, a little at a time, to the processor and blend until thoroughly incorporated. Spread on top of the cooled base then freeze for at least 2 hours before slicing and eating. 

They keep well for at least a week in the freezer. Maybe more but they were all gone by then! I liked to take them out of the freezer 20-30 minutes before eating them, I thought the texture was better this way.