AVOCADO CHOCOLATE PUDDING

Avocado chocolate pudding kissed by “fire” and “smoke” for an extra boost of flavor!

 

Avocado has been known for its health benefits for some time and has gone beyond the simple slice or dice and add to your favorite salad.  It has become the new replacement for butter in many recipes.

Now, I’m going to do a similar approach to chocolate pudding by incorporating avocado instead of dairy but first, I add a wood-fired flavor to the avocado to bring out a flavor level to this fruit that is distinctly different from its raw flavor.  You can see our previous article on the technique we used on the gas grill.

Flavor Affinities

Once you’ve wood fired your avocados on a gas or charcoal grill, you need to gather the following ingredients:

• 2 wood fired avocados
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• Unsweetened cocoa powder- ¾ cup
• Pure maple syrup- ½ cup
• ¼ cup- fresh orange juice, plus ¼ cup additional reserved
• Hot water (not boiling)- ¾ cup
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ cup chopped hazelnuts
• whipped heavy cream

In addition to the above ingredients, you’ll need a blender.

Blending Flavors Is All That’s Needed

Whenever I wood-fire avocado, I usually remove the flesh from the shells and store in a container in the refrigerator for my recipes.   Take the flesh of two previously wood-fired avocado and place in the blender.  Carefully split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds adding to the blender.

Now comes the cocoa powder, maple syrup, agave nectar, orange juice – ¼ cup to start – and salt.  Turn on the blender and incorporate everything until a coarse puree forms.

With the blender running on medium, gradually stream in the hot water and blend until smooth and creamy.  The hot water will produce a very shiny, ganache like appearance to the pudding.  If you feel the pudding mixture is too chunky or thick, blend in additional orange juice from the ¼ cup reserve but do not exceed the additional ¼ cup amount.

Chill It Before Serving

Once you’ve reached the perfect consistency for your pudding, it’s time to divide the mixture into 6 serving bowls and chill for at least 2 hours.  You can make this up to 3 days ahead of time but be sure you do not cover the pudding while it chills.  This is not like older recipes that contained dairy and could form a “skin” on the pudding.

Once chilled, top with whipped cream and chopped hazelnuts – I prefer to crush my hazelnuts using a canned good with the nuts in a sealable storage bag.  Super rich, creamy with a distinct extra flavor that mixes so well with the sweet syrups and fresh flavors of orange and vanilla.  Smoky Avocado Chocolate Pudding – a star finish to any meal!

In conclusion, we hope you found inspiration with this recipe.  We’d love to see your photos of your take on the recipe.  Leave a comment and subscribe.  Keep following us as we bring you innovative tips, techniques, and recipes on working with wood for cooking, grilling & smoking.

SMOKED BANANA DOUBLE BITES

SMOKED BANANA DOUBLE BITES

Finished Smoked Banana Double Bites

If you joined us for our series on smoking banana, now it’s time to learn just what you can do with this flavorful fruit.  This recipe for Smoked Banana Double Bites makes for a perfect snack, kid loving dessert, or even a sweet party item.   

Gather together:

• 6 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate

• 1/4 cup shredded coconut, the finer the better

• 4 oz. slivered almonds, crushed

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 4-5 smoked bananas (see our previous series on this process if you missed it)

You’ll also need a saucepan for melting the chocolate or a microwave safe bowl, popsicle sticks or similar disposable handle for inserting in the banana segments, and a small cake spatula for spreading the chocolate.  I would also keep on hand some hot water in case the chocolate should seize or harden on you.  If that occurs, simply add 1 teaspoon of hot water at a time, mixing well, until you restore the smooth consistency.

Preparing:

It’s important that you get the other ingredients ready prior to melting the chocolate as you want to prevent the chocolate from hardening.  Take your 4 ounces of slivered almonds and add to a storage bag.  I am old school so I will crush my almonds using a canned good.  You can use a kitchen mallet or rolling pin, whatever is the easiest for you.  Be sure you just crush the almonds – don’t make almond dust or flour!  Then prepare a sheet pan with wax paper and get your popsicle or other wood stick ready for putting the Smoked Banana Double Bites together.  I named this recipe after the average bites it takes to get one of these little flavor explosions into your tummy.

Melt the Chocolate:

Once the other ingredients are at the ready and your sheet pan with wax paper is set, it’s time to melt the semi-sweet chocolate.  You can do this a couple of way.  In a double boiler which is the preferred method, in a saucepan set to a low temperature, or in a microwave.  Your choice just be sure you get a consistency that is not too thin or thick so the banana will coat easily.  I add 2 tablespoons of butter to the chocolate to produce a shiny result.  Melt until just smooth being careful not to go beyond that stage or the chocolate will harden.  If you do go too far, simply add 1 teaspoon of hot water to the mix to thin and recover it.

Assembling the Bites:

With the chocolate melted we are now ready for assembly of our Smoked Banana Double Bites!  Taking your popsicle stick or similar wooden item, insert into the center of a banana segment.  Remember, I had cut my bananas into 2-inch segments when I did the smoking process.  Now dip into the melted chocolate and begin to spread into an even layer using a small cake spatula.  Just get the top and sides coated so they can roll in the next two ingredients.  Again, if your chocolate should seize or harden on you, simply add 1 teaspoon of hot water to bring it back.

With our banana segment covered in chocolate, we are now ready for “the roll”.  First, place some crushed slivered almond on a piece of wax paper.  Then roll the chocolate covered banana into the almonds being careful not to press down.  Just allow the almonds to stick on their own.  Next, a trip to the shredded coconut.  You can put the coconut on a wax sheet as well or leave in a small container that can accommodate the size of your banana.  Let the coconut fill in all the spaces between the almonds then lay on a sheet pan covered with wax paper.  These will need to harden a bit in the refrigerator.

The Yummy, Creamy, Chocolate Finish:

So here we are.  The finale!  After taking our bananas to a smoky place using SmokinLicious® Minuto® Wood Chips, we gave them a bath in luscious dark chocolate.  Then the roll – into crushed almond and shredded coconut – 2 fantastic flavor pairings for banana.  Then off to the sheet pan covered with wax paper to set everything up in the refrigerator.  You just need about 45 minutes of setting time then it’s off to the party, or for a snack or that great dessert. 

Don’t forget to put your own spin on this recipe by swapping the dark chocolate for white, the almonds for pistachio or pine nuts.  Always keep the holidays in mind too.  Use pastel dyes for the coconut or white chocolate for a great Easter dessert, green and red dyes for Christmas, and blue for Hanukah.   Make this great, simple recipe your own.  You can even do whole bananas, set them up, and then slice them over ice cream or pound cake with a hit of fresh cream.  Get your imagination going and expand on the great use of smoked banana.