Chocolate Avocado Parfait Recipe

I’ve always loved avocados. I remember as a teenager growing up in England the occasional visit to a smart restaurant, where I would always order an avocado cocktail as my starter (this was the early Eighties and at the time it seemed the height of sophistication!). Now many years and half a world away, the South African winter is a time of avocado plenty – they are luscious, ripe and affordable – no longer a special treat but an everyday pleasure.

So, when invited to take part in ZZ2’s Afrikado "More than just guacamole!" Blogger Challenge, I was full of ideas for recipes using avocados, anything but guacamole was the brief. Apparently the average South African only eats two avocados a year – how can that be possible?! And ZZ2 are asking bloggers to come up with exciting and inventive ways to use avos in a bid to encourage people to eat more of these delicious and healthy, super-nutritious fruit.

The first idea I was keen to try was to use avocado in a dessert. I’d tasted a wonderful chocolate avo mousse made by a friend and wanted to expand on that to create something along the lines of a chocolate ice cream. The following recipe is what I came up with: a decadently rich chocolate parfait with a hint of orange and coconut, so velvety smooth that you would think it was full of cream, when in fact there is no dairy whatsoever!

Chocolate avocado parfait recipe – dairy-free and healthy!
Ingredients
1 large ripe avocado
4 tablespoons good cocoa powder
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
5 tablespoons syrup (I used golden syrup)
3-4 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and blend with a stick blender until smooth.
Taste and adjust for sweetness.
Spoon into a bowl, cover and chill in the freezer for 6 hours until set but still soft enough to scoop easily.

This parfait is so rich that you only need a few spoonfuls each, so this amount would easily do four people, served with a scoop of fresh orange sorbet to cut the richness.

Alternatively use immediately without chilling, as a thick sauce to drizzle over vanilla ice cream.
If you leave overnight in the freezer it will set harder than is ideal for a parfait, so allow to soften slightly in the fridge for an hour before serving.

Notes: I used golden syrup as a sweetener, as that is what I had available, but for a healthier alternative use a good maple syrup or agave.
The quantities of syrup and cocoa needed will vary according to the size of your avocado, so taste, adjust and taste again!

Disclosure: I developed this recipe to enter into the Afrikado challenge. There is a prize for the winning recipe which will be decided by a panel of judges. I received no remuneration for writing this post and bought all the ingredients myself.

For more Afrikado avo inspiration read Colleen's Green Juice Recipe