Does something have to be bad for us in order to qualify as a treat and where does this idea of a naughty treat being particularly tasty come from? I’ve had this conversation quite a few times with my kids who suddenly started to differentiate between a snack and a treat and somehow the only difference is the level of ‘unhealthiness’ of the latter. Luckily they both love dark chocolate and all my homemade treats like the marzipan power balls or the sesame snaps, but of course it doesn’t go unnoticed that all the children having school lunch get dessert on a daily basis and there’s a cake sale on an almost weekly basis in order to raise money for the school. Unless you avoid playdates, birthday parties, cake sales and other children sharing their biscuits in the park you just can’t avoid it, sugar is everywhere.
These little chocolate mousse pots definitely passed the ‘treat test’, while being super nutritious and containing a fraction of the sugar of most store bought treats (mousse, cakes, muffins, cookies etc). Both tahini and almond butter are a good source of calcium and iron as well as unsaturated fats and if using raw cacao powder you also add a whole bunch of antioxidants to the mix. The mousse tastes excellent on it’s own or to create a bit of a showstopper you can add layers of berries, yoghurt (I use Greek soya yogurt from “Sojade”, you can also use coconut yogurt, although this is high in saturated fat so enjoy in moderation) and/or jam (using black cherry jam this creates a bit of a black forest gateau type taste). To make the mousse takes less than 5mins, use small pots, not much bigger than a shot glass (I used empty spice jars, they are 4cm wide and 8cm high) and get creative!
What you need:
For the mousse:
200g unsweetened plain plant yogurt of your choice (Greek if possible, but normal works too) – I use Greek soya yogurt
3tbsp almond butter (100% almonds)
2tbps tahini
3tbsp date syrup
2-3tbsp raw, unsweetened cacao (depending on how dark you want your mousse to be)
½ tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of sea salt
For the layers
100g berries of your choice – use frozen berries unless it’s berry season, I used a mix of frozen black currants, blueberries, red currants, raspberries and black cherries.
100-150g plant yogurt – I used the same Greek soya yogurt as above
Black cherry jam – I used a 100% fruit content jam from “St. Dalfour”
Sprinkle a few shavings of dark chocolate over the top
How you do it:
The mousse is done in 5mins.
If you use frozen berries take them out of the freezer now so they slowly start to defrost.
Simply add all ingredients for the mousse into a bowl (ideally it should be relatively narrow and tall) and mix everything using a handheld electric whisk (the hight of the container is to avoid the cacao powder from creating too much of a dust cloud).
Whip for a few minutes until you get the consistency of a dense mousse.
Layer your pots with mousse, yogurt, berries and jam.
Keep in the fridge until you serve them, adding a few chocolate shavings on top last minute.
