Raw Mocha Chocolate Mousse Tart

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Amber Crawley describes her scrumptious raw mocha chocolate tart as, “one decadent, gratifying, worth-the-work dessert!”, and we would have to agree! As usual she gives you plenty of ideas for substitutions so it’s easy to prepare even if you don’t have the exact ingredients she used on hand. This tart will firm up perfectly in the fridge but melt in your mouth when you take a bite. Sometimes putting a little extra effort into a recipe pays off!

Ingredients
For the crust:

• 1 cup raw walnuts, dry
• ¼ cup raw macadamia nuts, dry
• 1 Tbsp raw cacao powder
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt
• ½ cup pitted dates

For the mousse:

• 1 avocado, pitted and peeled
• ¼ cup almond milk
• ¼ cup raw cacao powder
• 2 Tbsp agave nectar
• 2 Tbsp yacon syrup
• 2 Tbsp raw honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
• ¼ cup raw macadamia nuts, soaked
• 3 Tbsp raw cacao butter, melted
• 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
• 3 Tbsp raw cacao beans
• 1 Tbsp psyllium husk powder
• 1 tsp liquid lecithin
• Pinch of sea salt

For the glaze:

• 3 Tbsp raw cacao butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp yacon syrup
• 2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
• 2 tsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instruction
Crust:

1) To make the crust, combine all crust ingredients except dates in a food processor. (Substitutions: feel free to use your favorite kind of nut[s] in place of the walnuts and macadamias, and you can use regular cocoa powder instead of raw cacao powder.)
2) Pulse until the mixture is crumbly.
3) Add the dates. (Substitutions: you could probably try using raisins instead, as long as they’re fresh and soft.)
4) Pulse until the mixture comes together. Lightly dust the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with cacao (or cocoa) powder, press the crust mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan, and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the mousse filling.

Mousse:

1) combine the avocado, almond milk, cacao powder, agave, yacon syrup, honey, vanilla, and coffee granules in a blender or food processor. (Substitutions: use any nondairy milk in place of the almond milk, and you can again replace the raw cacao powder with cocoa powder. The sweeteners are totally interchangeable and up to you—just use a total of 6 tablespoons of liquid sweetener, whether that’s agave nectar, yacon syrup, honey, or even maple syrup. If you want a plain chocolate [rather than mocha] mousse, just leave out the coffee.)
2) Process until creamy, then add the cashews and macadamia nuts. (Substitutions: the cashews are pretty vital, but you could probably sub in another type of nut [or just more cashews] for the macadamias.)
3) Blend until smooth. (My food processor wasn’t doing the job here, so I transferred the mixture to my Vitababy.) Add the cacao butter and coconut oil. (Substitutions: you can replace the cacao butter with an equal amount of coconut oil, just know that the filling won’t firm up as much in the end.)
4) Blend until smooth. Add the cacao beans, psyllium, lecithin, and sea salt, and blend again until creamy. (Substitutions: in place of the cacao beans, you can use the more-readily-available cacao nibs, or just an equal amount of melted unsweetened chocolate. The psyllium is a thickener, so if you don’t mind the filling being on the softer side, you can just leave it out entirely. The lecithin is an emulsifier, and makes the mousse nice and fluffy, but it can also be left out if you don’t have it.)
5) Taste the mixture for sweetness, adjusting as needed (you might want another tablespoon or two of agave, or a few drops of stevia, if you like things sweet). Pour the mousse onto the prepared crust, spread it evenly, and put the tart back in the fridge.

Glaze:

1) Combine all glaze ingredients in a blender and process until smooth, adding a splash of water if necessary. (Substitutions: use additional coconut oil instead of cacao butter, regular cocoa powder in place of cacao, and agave, honey, or maple syrup instead of yacon syrup. Also, again, leave the coffee out if you want a plain chocolate glaze. Lastly, it wouldn’t hurt to prepare a double batch of glaze, as I found it to be pretty thin on my tart!)

Assembly:

Pour the glaze over the mousse…

…and carefully spread in an even layer. Refrigerate the finished tart for several hours, until chilled and firm.