from my orchid kitchen

In this dessert the creaminess is obtained by the cooked sweet potato pulp, to which is added cocoa and the sweetness refined sugar free.


Although it resembles a chocolate mousse, it isn't really because to have the designation "mousse" it was necessary for it to have whipped egg whites and/or whipped cream as an ingredient, thus creating some air bubbles in its texture.

The ingredients

• Sweet potatoes - in this "mousse" I used orange pulp sweet potatoes, but white pulp can also be used. The best way to cook sweet potatoes is steamed, or baked in the oven so that they retain the vitamins. If cooked in water, it must be allowed to cool completely so that the excess moisture evaporates.
• Powdered cocoa - powdered chocolate can also be used, but it is advisable to adjust the amount of syrup since chocolate already contains sugar.
• Maple syrup - can be substituted for agave syrup or another similar sweetener of natural origin. Since sweet potatoes already have some sweetness, you don't need much sweetener.
• Vanilla - an (almost) indispensable ingredient in many desserts.
• Port wine - is optional and serves only to improve the flavor of the "mousse", and can be replaced by another alcoholic beverage to taste. I have also experimented with this chocolate liqueur.
• Milk - the amount needed is variable depending on the texture (thicker or lighter) that is desired for this dessert.

How to make

• Start by cooking the sweet potato: if steamed, the potatoes are peeled and cut into medium cubes and cooked for approximately 20 minutes (the smaller the cubes, the faster the cooking); if roasted in the oven, they are peeled and roasted whole at 200ºC for about 30 minutes; if cooked in water, peel and cut into cubes and cook for 15 to 20 minutes (also here the smaller the cubes, the faster the cooking will be) allowing to cool so that the excess moisture evaporates.
• The sweet potato pulp is then pureed. Those who don't have a food processor can use a pass-vite or potato masher.
• To the puree are then added cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla, Port wine (or another drink), and 80ml (1/3 cup) of milk, and wrap everything until you get a homogeneous cream.
• Depending on whether you like a thicker or lighter cream, gradually add (or not) more milk.
• Place the cream in bowls or other containers and leave it to set and solidify in the refrigerator.
• In this version, the bowls were decorated with some whipped cream (fresh cream with a bit of sugar).

Sweet potato chocolate "mousse" recipe

400 gr of sweet potato (boiled or roasted)
30 gr of cocoa
80ml to 150ml of milk (of any type)
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon of Port Wine, Brandy or chocolate liqueur (optional)
Whipped cream (optional - to decorate)
Chocolate shavings or sprinkles (optional - to decorate)

1. After roasting or boiling the sweet potato, mash until pureed and cool. 
2. Add the remaining ingredients: cocoa, maple syrup, vanilla, Port wine, and 80ml of milk, and mix everything.
3. Adjust the creaminess to taste with the addition of more milk.
4. Divide the preparation by cups or glasses, and place in the refrigerator. 
5. Decorate to taste.

 

There are several versions of chestnut mousse out there, and this one is the simplest, requiring only 5 ingredients to prepare it.

Autumn is coming to an end, and I wanted to share another recipe for this product that represents this season - chestnut.

The ingredients

• Chestnuts - to obtain chestnut puree, we can cook fresh chestnuts or frozen ones. Just cook them in a little water and salt and you can add a cinnamon stick if you wish. Later on, they are mashed in a food processor or pass-vite.
• Cream - since the puree obtained from the chestnut is quite thick, it is the whipped cream that will add a little more lightness to the mousse.
• Brown sugar - I preferred to use brown sugar, simply because its flavor combines very well with that of chestnut, but you can substitute for white sugar or even coconut sugar.
• Port wine - it's an optional ingredient, simply to flavor the mousse, but it can be substituted by vanilla or another drink to your likings like Muscatel wine, whiskey, or rum.
• Chocolate - I didn't mention a specific amount of this ingredient, because I leave it up to each one of you. I used dark chocolate (70%) but alternatively, you can use milk chocolate.

This is a different dessert that uses a significant amount of ripe bananas, which combines so well with these fall days.


I always get excited when I have ripe bananas in my kitchen because it means I can make some banana dessert. Usually, it means preparing a batch of muffins or banana bread, but this time and because I had so many frozen bananas, I decided to bake this oven pudding for the first time.

There are some recipes similar to this one, many of them of Brazilian origin but using condensed milk as a sweetener, which is not the case of this pudding that is less sugary, because there's already some sweetness present in the ripe bananas.

Ingredients for this banana pudding