Sweets Archives • Page 11 of 13 • New Nostalgia

Chocolate-Avocado Mousse with Raspberries

Yes, you read that right. Avocados and chocolate! You would never have guessed that avocados were used to thicken the mousse and that it would make it so creamy and delicious! This mouse is vegan, and is super healthful: no eggs, no dairy, and no refined sugars. Cocoa powder and raspberries both have antioxidants in them. Just one ounce of dark chocolate packs as many antioxidants as a glass of red wine. Buy natural cocoa powder with a minimum of 70% cocoa. Avoid anything that says “dutch processed” or “processed with alkali” in order to keep the good flavonoids found in chocolate.

This mousse takes just minutes to prepare. No cooking or baking!

I serve this to my kids smeared on graham crackers. They think it is frosting!:)

{served in my favorite 4 ounce size jar}

Chocolate-Avocado Mousse with Raspberries
{inspired by Chuck White’s “If It Makes You Healthy”}

2 large ripe avocados
1/3 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup agave nectar, or honey
11/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoons almond extract

Raspberries, fresh or frozen, to top
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1. Halve and pit the avocados and scoop out the flesh. Transfer the avocado flesh to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Using a spoon, break up the avocado a little in the food processor.
2. Add the cocoa powder, agave nectar (or honey), vanilla extract, and almost extract to the processor and process for 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then process again until the mousse is very smooth, 1-2 minutes longer.
3. Taste the mousse and if not sweet enough, add more nectar, 1 teaspoon at a time. Pulse to mix.
4. Spoon the mousse into serving vessels (martini glasses are pretty!) and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.
5. Serve the mousse chilled and garnished with raspberries.

**Drizzle in more or less agave or honey, depending on your tastes.

GF, Vegan & Raw/ RECIPES/ Sweets

Orange-Almond Polenta Cake With Strawberries

This cake is moist, filling, not-too-sweet and delish! It is perfect for summer. The citrus flavor is really light and refreshing, although the cake is filling and hearty thanks to the almonds, cornmeal and chia seeds. I will definitely be making it again!

Orange-Almond Polenta Cake With Strawberries
{Vegan Version Included}
{adapted from The Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook}

1/3 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup unbleached white flour {next time I will try wheat}
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
11/2 cups almonds
1/2 cup sugar {or sucanat}
1 orange
1/2 cup vegetable oil {I used coconut oil}
2 eggs {I used “chia egg substitute”–1 Tablespoon chia seed to 3 Tablespoons water for each egg. Stir and let set until gel-like. About 10 minutes}
1 cup of berries {I used strawberries}

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil and flour a 9 inch cake pan.

Sift the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a blender or food processor, whirl the almonds and sugar until the almonds are finely ground. Add to the flour mixture.

Grate the orange peel and juice the orange (about 1/3 cup). Add the orange juice, orange zest, oil eggs (or chia substitute), and 1/3 cup of water to the blender or food processor and whirl for about 15 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and blend until well mixed, using a spatula to scrape down the sides if necessary. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the cake from the pan.
Serve with your choice of berries. {I used Strawberries that were mashed and heated, then cooled}

RECIPES/ Sweets

Salty Sweet Peanut Butter Caramel Funky Fritos

I know, I know. This is not the usual type of recipe I post here at New Nostalgia. There is nothing real or healthy about these–AT ALL!

But, sometimes you gotta break the healthy rules and make something junky–especially when it is for a dessert contest! City Impact (where my husband works) was having their annual BBQ Cookout, and something they do every year is a fun dessert contest.

The winners get great gift cards, so I decided to enter something extra gooey sweet!

I started making this recipe about 4 years ago, always in the fall during football season and only once a year.

I put candy corn in it instead of the chocolate candies, which really is the perfect salty/ sweet combination, inspired by the typical peanuts and candy corn mix. It looks very fall and festive.

While munching away on these Funky Fritos, my daughter asked me what was in them. I started listing the 4 ingredients, and when I got to corn syrup, she had a freakout and said “oh man, Mom, I CAN’T BELIEVE you made something with CORN SYRUP in it.”

My husband smiled, shook his head and said “only YOUR daughter would say something like that!” 🙂

Salty Sweet Peanut Butter Caramel Funky Fritos

1 cup white corn syrup

1 cup white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 10.5 ounce bag Fritos

Chocolate Candies or Candy Corn (optional)

Pour out the Fritos on a large shallow pan lined with greased parchment paper. Combine the corn syrup and sugar and bring to a boil (I use my microwave for this kind of chore – usually takes about 6-8 minutes for the sugar to be dissolved and you’re set!)

Then stir in the PB til smooth. Pour the mixture over the chips, sprinkle with candies, and chill for about 30-60 minutes. Break apart and enjoy!

RECIPES/ Sweets

Green Smoothie Popsicles

We have been making all kinds of real fruit popsicles around here. The price for real fruit popsicles at the store is sky high, so we save money and make our own.

I throw in whatever frozen fruit we happen to have hanging out in the freezer. I try to get some type of green vegetable in there, so they usually end up in some shade of green.

My frozen fruit bin. I usually have mango, pineapple, wild blueberries, mixed berries & cherries in it.

This is considered the “snack/dessert” bin in our home.

These particular Green Smoothie popsicles have mango, pineapple, avocado, kale, and banana.

The avocado gives them wonderful creaminess, and the fruit gives them a tropical sweetness. The kale just disappears, my kids don’t even notice it.

I start by throwing in about 1/2 cup of frozen pineapple chunks, 1/2 cup frozen mango chunks, and a peeled, frozen banana. To easily peel the frozen banana, soak in some water for a couple minutes, pop the top of the peel off and slide it right out into the blender. Add the avocado and kale, and 1/2 cup of water. Then blend.

You may have to stop the blender and stir, adding more water as you go.

Your goal is to add just enough water to make a vortex in the middle of the blender, as the picture above shows. Blend a couple of minutes, until kale is chopped into tiny bits. Taste. If needs more sweetness, add your choice of sweetener-agave nectar, stevia, honey or sugar.

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until set.

My girls get so excited when they hear the blender. They know they either get a smoothie or that I am making popsicles.

Sometimes I add a scoop of Plant Fusion Vanilla Protein Powder.

When I do this, I will often give into their request to have popsicles for breakfast. After all, they contain protein, fiber, vegetables and fruits! Add some toast and it is a very filling breakfast!

I enjoy the leftovers in smoothie form. If the girls are too impatient to wait for the popsicles to freeze, then they join in with me.:)

Green Smoothie Popsicles

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 cup frozen mango

1 frozen banana, peeled

1 avocado, pitted and flesh scooped out (optional, adds creaminess)

a large handful of kale (or spinach, or romaine)

water added for consistency

__________________________

Add all ingredients into the blender. Continue to blend while adding water, until “vortex” forms in the middle. You may have to stop the blender and use a spoon to stir occasionally.

Blend for a minute or 2, until kale is chopped into very small pieces.

Pour into popsicle molds or enjoy as a smoothie.

RECIPES/ Sweets

Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes-Easy!

My step-mom was having a birthday and I wanted to bring her a birthday dessert. Something that looked special and was full of chocolate. We share our love for chocolate! I was still in zombie-land due to a medication I was taking, so I knew I had to figure out something simple.

Trader Joes to the rescue! I picked up a box of their chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting mix, and a bottle of their amazing caramel sauce. I stopped at the craft store to find paper cups that were cute- a special touch. I grabbed 2 Skor candy bars, and got a bit excited as I envisioned myself taking a hammer to them. 🙂 I also grabbed a squeeze bottle that I found it in the cake decorating aisle, it was only a buck. Lastly, I found some candles that sparkle and trick the birthday girl by re-lighting themselves over and over. Hee. Hee.

Of course, any box cake mix, frosting mix and caramel can be used for this, but I am a HUGE Trader Joes fan. Why?

All Products In The Trader Joe’s Label Promise:
NO artificial flavors, colors or preservatives
NO genetically modified ingredients
NO MSG
NO added Trans Fats

Let’s take the cake mix. When I read the ingredients, they were the ingredients you would read on a recipe card. All pronounceable. This is true, REAL convenience food. Taking ingredients I would use to make it from scratch, and putting them together for me.

Trader Joes Cake Mix Ingredients:

White Flour

Wheat Flour

Cocoa

Corn Starch

Baking Soda

Soybean Oil

Salt

Buttermilk

Natural Vanilla Flavor

Pillsbury Cake Mix Ingredients:

Ingredients:

ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), MALTODEXTRIN, SUGAR, MALTITOL, WHEAT STARCH, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, BAKING POWDER (BAKING

SODA, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE) CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONOESTERS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, CELLULOSE, CORN STARCH, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, CELLULOSE GUM, XANTHAN GUM, POLYSORBATE 60, SUCRALOSE (NON-NUTRITIVE SWEETENER), COLORED WITH RED 40, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS), SOY LECITHIN.

The Pillsbury cake mix has sugar, plus artificial sweetener. Does that make ANY sense to you? Me either. It also adds artificial red food coloring. Many, many food allergies in children are caused by artificial colors. I am not saying these cupcakes are healthy by any means, but I enjoy knowing that they are not full of man- made ingredients, some of which are chemicals. So…on to the good stuff!!

How I made Gooey, Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes:

~Made Chocolate Cupcakes according to the directions on the box of Trader Joes Chocolate Cake Mix

~Made Chocolate Frosting according to the directions on the box of Trader Joes Chocolate Frosting Mix

~Used a hammer to crush 2 Skor candy bars (while still in the wrapper)

~Warmed Caramel sauce and put into a squeeze bottle.

~Squeeze some caramel into the center of each cupcake. This makes them super moist and gooey!

I gotta stop here and take some time to rave about this particular caramel sauce. IT IS SO GOOD. I think it should be called “Salted Caramel Sauce” because there is just enough salty to the sweet to make your mouth water. It is divine.

~Frost cupcake

~Drizzle with more caramel

~Sprinkle with crushed Skor bar

~Enjoy!

RECIPES/ Sweets

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

I was at home with my oldest girl, and I heard her in the kitchen. It sounded like she was doing the dishes, and found myself getting a bit excited about the idea of her doing a chore without me asking her to.

I decided to go in and see what was going on. As I walked into the kitchen, my nose got a whiff of chocolate. I saw something that got me even more excited than my dishes getting done. Here is what I saw:

I also saw my daughter standing there licking chocolate off a spoon and looking quite pleased with herself. This is the same daughter who does not like to cook, so I was surprised and quite pleased!

I was especially pleased with her cleverness. I wondered how she made the yummy chocolate drizzle and she said,

“I melted my chocolate Easter bunny!”

So clever. I praised her efforts and told her I wanted to feature them on the blog. She smiled and said, “Yeah, I was thinking about that..:)”

The size of these little sweet treats are perfect for popping in your mouth when a treat is needed. If you want to make your own, gather the leftover chocolate Easter bunnies in your home, melt in the microwave, then dip and drizzle over miniature marshmallows. Let sit until chocolate is hardened.

RECIPES/ Sweets

No Bake, No Sugar Chocolate “Larabar” Truffles

You are gonna like these! They are really good. They are make from very healthy ingredients, and contain no sugar. They taste very much like a Chocolate Coconut Larabar. I have always been a fan of Larabars because they are made out of just a handful of healthful ingredients…

… the above bar contains-dates, almonds, walnuts, unsweetened cocoa and coconut. That is it!!

I knew these would be easy to replicate, so I was excited to see that the Nourishing Gourmet had already tried and succeeded! I used her recipe and was really happy with how they turned out!

I packaged some of mine pretty to take to my Radiation Oncologist as a thank you on my last day of radiation. He is a diabetic, and I knew he had been staying away from refined sugars. He seemed pleased to have a treat that was sugar free, tasted them and approved!

You DO NOT have to be a date lover to like these. I do not like dates! In this recipe, they provide the sweetness and I could not tell there were in there. 2 of my 3 girls loved these and couldn’t get enough. My oldest is not a fan of coconut, so no luck with her. The neighbor kids gave them 2 thumbs up and asked for more.

————————————————————-

Here is the recipe, adapted from the Nourishing Gourmet:

Chocolate “Larabar” Truffles–Makes about 20 truffles

1) In a food processor, combine the pitted dates, coconut flakes, and coconut oil. Process until the mixture is finely ground.

2) Add the nuts to food processor and process until the nuts are in very small pieces (some even completely ground)

3) In the warm pan, add the chocolate to melt. If you need a little more heat, put on the very lowest heat on the stove, just until melted to prevent burning. Scrape into the food processor and add the salt and vanilla. Process until well mixed.

4) Roll into balls (refrigerate for 30 minutes if too sticky…mine were not) and place on a plate or in a container and then harden completely in the refrigerator. Keep cool until you serve and enjoy!

**I am pleased to link up to these parties!

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