from my orchid kitchen

This dessert with an intense chocolate flavor comes in two layers: a brownie textured top that covers a thick cocoa and banana mousse.

The idea of ​​making this dessert came from the coincidence of having very ripe bananas to use (which would probably be the base of another banana cake - of the many I still have to try...) and also the fact that I was watching TV and switching to 24Kitchen channel and coming across one of Nigella Lawson's "cook, eat, repeat" episodes.

In this episode, she prepared her "chocolate tahini pudding" and as soon as I saw it, I told myself that since I had bananas and a jar of tahini in the pantry, this was exactly what I would serve for dessert at dinner.

Here, the texture inside is similar to a creamy mousse but served hot or warm rather than cold. I chose not to make the tahini whipped cream, nor to use the date syrup because the dessert (despite my adaptations) was already sweet enough.

The ingredients 

Bananas - I used ripe bananas, as they are sweeter and so I could reduce the sugar in the original recipe. You can use frozen bananas but always drain the extra moisture they release. 

Tahini - is the "butter" made from crushed sesame seeds. It can be substituted for peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter. 

Greek yogurt - in the original recipe the amount of yogurt was smaller, but by using 125gr I was able to eliminate the oil used originally. 

Egg - helps bind all other ingredients together. I haven't tried it, but the recipe may also work if it's omitted.

Dark brown sugar - I prefer to use dark brown sugar because it has a slight caramel flavor which pairs well with banana and cocoa. You can substitute with light brown sugar or coconut sugar. 

Flour - together with the egg, it will help to bind the other elements that are mostly moist. 

Powdered cocoa - although not much, it is enough for this dessert to have an intense chocolate flavor.

Baking soda - here the soda will create air bubbles in the dough when it is subjected to the heat of the oven and so the texture of this dessert is similar to that of a mousse. 

Chocolate chips - are an ingredient that will accentuate the chocolate flavor even more, although it has also been reduced regarding the original amount. 

Vanilla - is an optional ingredient that adds extra flavor to many desserts. 

Banana, chocolate and tahini pudding recipe

Ingredients 

250 g of banana
50 g of tahini
125 g of Greek yogurt
1 egg
50 g dark brown sugar
60 g of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
25 g of cocoa powder
40 g of chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
pinch of salt

1. Peel the bananas and mash them until you get a puree.
2. In a bowl, beat the egg with the sugar and a pinch of salt.
3. Add the banana, yogurt, tahini and vanilla.
4. In another bowl, mix the flour with the bicarbonate and cocoa.
5. Fold the flour and cocoa mixture into the previous preparation.
6. Add the chocolate chips.
7. Grease a pyrex or other container (that can go in the oven) and pour the mixture.
8. Bake at 160ºC for about 40 to 45 minutes.
9. Serve hot or warm with a little whipped cream.

Adapted from "Chocolate tahini banana pudding with tahini cream and date molasses"

Notes on how to make

• If you don't have chocolate chips, you can simply break 40 g of a chocolate bar into small pieces. 
• Another option is to serve this dessert in individual portions, and for this, place the preparation in bowls or ramekins and reduce the cooking time to about 25 to 30 minutes (or until the surface is cooked). 
• If you serve it with whipped cream, I advise you not to serve it on top of the dessert because it will lose its consistency (the dessert is hot) and go back to being just liquid cream. (In the photo the dessert was cold when it was photographed with the whipped cream...) 
• A better option (for my taste) is to serve it with a scoop of cream or vanilla ice cream.

 

 

 

 

This homemade dessert is nothing more than pure and ripe mango puree with a bit of natural pineapple juice combined with gelatin and prepared in a pudding mold.

In these summer days, fresh desserts are always more prevalent, but sometimes they aren't the healthiest ones. Children mainly love fresh jellies and puddings but for the most part, there is no real fruit involved, just color and artificial flavors.

It is not the case of this mango pudding made only with fresh fruit, yogurt, and little (if any) sugar.

The ingredients

• Mango - in the pudding you see here was used fresh ripe mango, however, it can also be made with canned mango pulp.
• Pineapple juice - in this recipe I used this juice but you can use any other as long as it is from real fruit. It is not recommended to use pineapple-flavored soda because, in addition to being nothing more than a liquid full of sugars/sweeteners and additives when exposed to heat, it will undergo changes that can be harmful to health and also the taste may change.
• Yogurt - as I had no yogurt in my fridge, I replaced it with 0% quark cheese that has approximately the same consistency, but both natural flavored and/or vegan yogurts, as well as those with mango or pineapple flavor.
• Sugar - the amount of sugar used will depend on several factors: if the pineapple juice has sugar, if the yogurt is sweetened, the natural sweetness of the mango, and finally, the personal liking of each one of us.
• Agar-agar - when it comes to preparing this type of fresh puddings, I prefer to use agar-agar algae instead of gelatin sheets not only because they are of vegetable origin (unlike gelatin sheets that are of animal origin) but also because they set better and its structure and consistency better withstand not so cool temperatures.

How to make

• If using natural fruit (as I did), start by peeling the mango and removing the stone.
• All the pulp pieces are crushed, using a food processor, blender, or hand mixer, yielding approximately 400ml of mango puree.
• The puree is then passed through a strainer in order to remove the filaments that may have escaped the blending (this step is optional and depends on the blending method and equipment used).
• If you prefer to use the canned pulp, just measure the same amount that I obtained from the fruit.
• Add the puree to the yogurt (or quark) and mix well.
• Sweeten it with some sugar to taste (depends on the amount of sugar present in the ingredients used).
• In a proper container, bring the water together with the agar-agar to the heat, stirring constantly to dissolve well.
• Let it boil for approximately 1 minute.
• Turn off the heat and pour in the pineapple juice, stirring constantly.
• Without stopping stirring, add the 2 preparations (agar-agar with pineapple + mango with yogurt) until everything is homogeneous.
• The interior of a pudding mold is rinsed with water, and then the prepared mixture is poured into it.
• Place in the refrigerator until solid, at least 4 hours.

Fresh mango pineapple pudding recipe

Ingredients

Pulp of 1 mango (approx. 400ml)
125gr of yogurt or quark
200 ml of pineapple juice
1 tablespoon of sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons of powdered agar-agar
100 ml of water

1. Peel the mango and remove the core.
2. In a food processor, blender or hand mixer, grind the pulp well.
3. Pass the pulp through a strainer to remove filaments that have not been crushed (optional).
4. Add the pulp, sugar, yogurt or quark and mix well.
5. In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil together with the agar-agar, stirring constantly so that it dissolves well.
6. Let it boil for approximately 1 minute.
7. Turn off the heat, and stirring constantly, add the pineapple juice.
8. Always stirring, preferably with a whisk, add the 2 preparations until everything is homogeneous.
9. The interior of a pan is rinsed with water, and then the prepared mixture is poured into it.
10. Place in the refrigerator until solid, at least 4 hours.