Chilled Double Chocolate Torte

Photo from 1st attempt

I claim nothing for this recipe. I deviated from my normal and followed this recipe to the letter (minus the type of oil). I got the recipe from one of my current favorite blogs, Oh She Glows. It's a fabulous blog, if you haven't checked it out yet, you should. The pictures of this on her blog are so much better than mine, too.

This cake was made for the little dude's early birthday party last night. Along with cleaning house, getting packed for our trip tomorrow, and everything else that goes along with that, I was able to whip this up no problem! I loved that this was the no-bake version, too, since it was warm yesterday and there was no way I was turning the oven on.

Photo from 4th attempt and shot in manual - more accurate representation

This was a huge hit - no one could even tell it was vegan.

Oh wait - you didn't know either? Sorry. It's a vegan dessert. And you can't tell. Pretty great, of you ask me!

My only note would be that any light tasting oil would work, I used grapeseed, the original called for coconut oil, and I'm pretty sure that even a really light EVOO would work since it's such a small quantity. The other note would be to make sure that your avocado are ripe, but not on that borderline almost-too-ripe line. One of mine was almost on that line, and thankfully the other two weren't because I suspect it wouldn't have been very good.


Chilled Double Chocolate Torte - edited 3-8-12
Serves 12-16 depending on how much rich chocolate you're up for consuming

Crust:

• 2 c pecans
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 2 T coconut oil
  
• 1/4 c pure maple syrup or dark amber agave nectar (a LOT less expensive)
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 t salt

Mousse:

• 2 c avocado flesh (3 small avocados)
• 1/3 c almond milk
• 2/3 c pure maple syrup again, you can use dark amber agave nectar
• 1 T smooth peanut butter
  
• 1 T arrowroot powder- I'm not where you'd find this. I went to Whole Foods and while the guy said they usually carried it, they didn't. Thankfully he was nice and asked the baker to give me the amount I needed.  I used cornstarch and it turned out just fine and didn't alter the taste
  
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 c chocolate chips
• 1/4 c cocoa powder

To make the crust:
--Oil a 7-10 inch springform pan and line it with a circle of parchment paper or tin foil. In a food processor, pulse the pecans until crumbly. Be careful not to over process them as you still want them a bit chunky. Now add in the rest of the crust ingredients and pulse until just mixed. Scoop mixture onto prepared pan and press down firmly and evenly with slightly wet spatula. Freeze while making the mousse.

To make the mousse:
--Place all mousse ingredients (except chocolate chips) into food processor. Process until smooth. In a small bowl, melt your chocolate chips in the microwave and scoop melted chocolate into food processor mixture. Process until smooth.
--Remove crust from freezer and scoop this mousse on top of crust. Smooth out as much as possible and then place in the freezer for 2 hours to firm.
-- Once firm, remove from freezer and allow to sit on the counter for about 5-10 minutes before serving chilled. Place leftover torte in the freezer wrapped and placed in a seal container.
Note that this torte should be served chilled as it gets soft at room temperature.

One of the best parts? This is what your sink will look like when you're all done!