Avocado Cream & Passion Fruit Mousse (Creme de Abacate & Mousse de Maracujá)

How is December treating you all so far? I love December, it's summer, life is busy and fun, and Christmas is just around the corner. Apparently some people hate Christmas, but I don't see the point of hating a reason to get together with family and friends over food and wine! Christmas goes on regardless of whether you love it or hate it, so you might as well love it :)

December is also Brazilian Food Month on the blog, the last World Food Challenge country for the year. I hope you've enjoyed the range of countries I've featured this month, I've had a great time! I've learn't so much and tried lots of things I've never done before. Each year I look back and I feel happy to know that I'm becoming a better & more experienced cook with every new cuisine I delve into, so a big thank you to all the readers who have suggested wonderful countries to feature and also to my friends who are more than happy to turn up every month with a bottle of wine and be my guinea pigs.

Brazil is a bit of a challenge from a vegan point of view, but with a bit of digging around I found plenty to please the palate. It's an espescially fun country for dessert, so you'll see plenty of those. Also, despite the international reputation for serving up predominantly meat on swords, I found some really special savoury dishes to share with you. So, sit back, I think you're going to enjoy this month.

Being December, I'll also be sharing with you some fun Christmas gift ideas. At the moment I'm sharing with all my facebook followers the "12 Days of Edible Xmas Gifts" - 12 ideas for easy edible gifts which are a bit different to the ones you might have thought of before! You can check them out by liking Gormandize on facebook.

I'm starting Brazil month off with this absolutely spectacular dessert. I'm not exaggerating, it really was spectacular. It was so popular at my Brazilian dinner party that I was sad to have no leftovers! I made it by combining 2 Brazilian desserts - Avocado Cream (Creme de Abacate) and Passion Fruit Mousse (Mousse de Maracujá). They're not traditionally combined, to my knowledge, but they complimented each other perfectly to make a light but special dessert. Don't let the idea of an avocado dessert put you off, you will love this!

Avocado Cream & Passion Fruit Mousse

Ingredients

Avocado Cream
Adapted from easybrazilianrecipes.com
3 ripe avocados, skin & stone removed
6 tbsp castor sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp vegan condensed milk

Passion Fruit Mousse
Adapted from flavorsofbrazil.blogspot.com
1 can coconut cream, left in the fridge for at least 24 hours
3/4 cup vegan condensed milk
5 passion fruits
2 extra passion fruits for garnish

To Make
1. To make the avocado cream: place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend into a smooth cream. Divide amongst 8 individual serving glasses.
2. To make the passion fruit mousse: When you open the can of coconut cream, you'll see that most of the can has solidified into a thick white cream. Scoop this out and place in a bowl & discard the liquid in the can (or save it for use in another meal, like a curry or a smoothie). Whip the coconut cream solids with electrci beaters until light and fluffy, just like whipped cream. Add the condensed milk & the pulp of 5 passion fruits.
3. Divide amongst your 8 serving glasses evenly on top of the avocado cream.
4. Top each glass with fresh passion fruit pulp and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Serves 8. Can be made the night before & kept in the fridge.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Brazil!

Check out my other Brazilian recipe posts:

Bolinhos de Arroz (Brazillian Fried RiceBalls) with Orange, Olive & Brazil Nut Rice

Chocolate Coconut Kisses

Pizza de Brigadeiro (Chocolate Pizza) with Strawberries & Cream Cheese

Black Eyed Bean Acaraje

Hearts of Palm & Rocket Pizza

Hearts of Palm & Olive Empadinhas (Empadinhas de Palmito)

Orange & Passion Fruit Pudding (only 5 ingredients!)

It's simple desserts like this which fill me with joy. This vibrant orange pudding only contains 5 ingredients (actually technically only 4 because two of the ingredients come from the same oranges...) and is very easy to make (as long as you don't take your eye off it when it's cooking!) This recipe is part of Costa Rican Food month, which kicked off a couple of days ago with the very special Resbaladera (Rice and Barley Milk Drink). I had to post this recipe next because it was one of my absolute favourites!

The reason it is part of Costa Rican food month, is because I have based this recipe on a Costa Rican dish - Atol de Naranja. An atole/atol is a Central/South American dish which is thickened with either cornstarch or hominy grits. It is often consumed as a hot drink, however I decided to make mine a cold dessert pudding instead. I've also added a tropical touch with the gorgeous fresh passion fruit on top which really took this simple dessert to a whole new level!

So- with all the changes is it actually an authentic Costa Rican dish? I have no idea! Maybe a Costa Rican can tell me. What I can tell you is that this dessert is spectacular. So just make it :)

Ingredients
3 cups fresh orange juice (should be about 3-4 oranges worth)
1 tbsp orange zest (tip: zest orange before juicing)
1 cup cornstarch
2 cups brown sugar
4 passion fruits

To Make
1. Place the orange zest and 1/2 cup of the orange juice in a saucepan.
2. Add the cornstarch and stir well until completely dissolved and with no lumps.
3. Gradually stir in the remaining orange juice and the sugar.
4. Place the saucepan over a medium to low heat and stir continuously while you slowly heat it through.
5. As the pudding heats it will begin to thicken, stir continuously to prevent lumps forming. Heat until the pudding is thickened (this should take about 10 minutes, but may take less or more time depending on how hot your stove is).
6. Once the pudding is thick transfer immediately into 8 individual serving bowls (or glasses). Place in the fridge and chill for a couple of hours until completely cold.
7. Top each serving with the pulp of 1/2 a passion fruit and serve.

Serves 8 (note: makes fairly 'modest' servings, if you want large servings you can use this recipe to serve 4-6 people with larger serves).

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Costa Rica.

Check out my other recipe posts:

Resbaladera (Rice & Barley Milk Drink)

Paprika de Papa (Paprika Fried Potatoes)

Chayote con Maiz (Chokoes and Corn)

Home Made Salsa Lizano 

Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)

Gallo Pinto (Beans and Rice)

Hearts of Palm Salad with Lime Coriander Dressing

Mushroom Ceviche

I've also been nominated in 2 categories in the 'The Homies' blog awards for 2013. It's an annual award run by The Kitchn, and it's a bit of a popularity contest - so your support would mean more to me than I could possibly express!

If you enjoy my recipes or my photos then please take a moment to hop into The Kitchn using the links below, if you think I'm worthy, that is :)

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Thanks for all your support over the years and I hope you enjoy perusing my blog and trying my recipes!