During the three-day raw detox that I just finished, desserts were off-limits. But I had lots of time to spend browsing through raw food ‘cookbooks’, and raw food websites, and I saw a lot of desserts that looked really yummy! So, tonight I decided that I’d been virtuous enough all day long (watermelon smoothies all day long, with veggies and hummus for supper) that I had really earned a treat for dessert.
One recipe that caught my attention was raw chocolate pudding. I couldn’t find the recipe this evening, but I remembered roughly what the ingredients were – young Thai coconut, dates, agave, and cacao powder. So, I had my husband hack open a young Thai coconut we bought a few days ago, and I blended its meat with a little of the coconut water (the rest of the water formed the basis of my green smoothie for tomorrow (coconut water, kiwi, kale, berries, and a frozen banana)). I then added three dates, and 2 heaping tablespoons of cacao powder, and blended it up til it was completely smooth and thick and creamy. There was a lot, so I put half of it away in the fridge for tomorrow. To serve, I chopped 10 almonds and sprinkled them on top.
Raw Chocolate Pudding Recipe : (serves 2)
– meat from one young Thai coconut
– some of the coconut water (just enough to be able to blend the meat; depends on how ripe it is)
– 3 medjool dates
– 2 heaping tablespoons of cacao powder
– 1 tablespoon of agave (or less, depending on how sweet you like your dark chocolate)
– 10 almonds, chopped
Rough nutritional breakdown (per serving): [nutritiondata.com]
250 calories,
13 grams of fat,
9 grams of fiber,
5 grams of protein;
good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and manganese.
Have you tried young Thai coconuts?
What’s your favorite thing to do with young Thai coconut?
Looks like the coconut is the main time consumer on this one. Is it important that it be a Thai coconut? I’m a big fan of chocolate pudding and am curious how this tastes. But raw is great, and fair trade’s even better. Thank you for sharing. By the way … I love the grass at the bottom of your site! ๐
Hi, Steve,
Actually, the coconut part (once my husband has cut open the top) is really quick, especially if it’s young enough the the meat is really soft (I’m working on figuring out how you can tell which coconuts are REALLY young, and which are getting a little older/harder). It probably isn’t all that important that the coconut be from Thailand, but every time I’ve ever seen young coconuts for sale, they’re always “Young Thai Coconuts”. Maybe Thailand is the only country that exports them young? Maybe the Thai ones are special in some way? I’ll let you know if I find anything out about that.
You can eat medjool dates without mixing them into anything, they are super sweet. Medjool dates can be used in place of honey and sugar as well.
Indeed, they ARE super-sweet and delicious. I use them in this raw chocolate pudding, and raw brownies, and banana date shakes… I like to keep a container of fresh dates in the pantry all the time, because they’re so good (I also have a recipe for an orange-date bread that I used to make – it was fantastic! I should make it again – maybe this afternoon ๐ )
It seems like a pretty cool way to end the day. I will try making the raw chocolate pudding this evening.