Yummy Chocolate Mousse

I promised to post a recipe for chocolate mousse and just got around to it! It is so satisfying. Just in case you are tempted to eat too much of it, put some in a small wine glass and sprinkle some fresh cut strawberries on top - make it special! Also - don't tell your family what is in it. I had my husband taste it and asked him what he thought it was - he said chocolate pudding and that it tasted good!

The recipe comes from a friend of mine - Dotty Sharp (http://www.consciousdwellings.com/). I have cut the recipe in half and in fourths so don't be afraid to play with it. Her recipe calls for agave nectar. Agave nectar has been given a lot of bad press lately. I'm not sure what to believe. All of the articles I have read about it describe a product and a process that is contradicted on Madhava Agave's website (the kind I have used - although I have always used Agave sparingly because I prefer other sweeteners). Granted, Madhava is trying to sell a product, but their information located at http://alteredplates.blogspot.com/2008/12/madhavas-craig-gerbore-responds-to.html (this is a response to all the bad press) is so far from what the slammers say that I struggle to know what to believe. In the meantime, there are a number of other healthy sweeteners you can use. Each of them will give the pudding a different flavor. These sweeteners include REAL maple syrup (read the label - NO CORN SYRUP), honey (preferably from local-to-you sources) or brown rice syrup.

Enjoy the recipe - let me know if you make it and what you think about it! Also - visit Dotty's website for some great other raw food recipes! (My comments/changes are in parenthesis).

4 avocados

3/4 - 1 cup agave (honey, maple syrup, etc.)

2 tablespoons coconut butter

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1 cup raw cacao powder (you can use regular cocoa powder - just not as healthy as the raw stuff)

Dash of cinnamon (optional)

Blend avocados, sweetener of choice, coconut butter, vanilla and salt in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Slowly add the cacao powder, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (I can't wait to taste it so I eat it while it is still room temp and it still tastes great! Be prepared though, it doesn't taste like Jello brand pudding! I think it tastes better. The first time I tasted it I wasn't sure it was all that good, but after the first few bites, I think it tastes better!) to allow flavors to blend.

Will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator. Freezes very well.

Enjoy!