Vegan Brownie Love Puddings

Just a little love for this Valentines Day.

Despite the fact that these cacao puddings are vegan, my beloved adored this baked gift. Though I shouldn't be surprised, he's developed a preference for nut-based flours instead of the white stuff, regularly requesting my chocolate beetroot quinoa cake and happily chowing down on coconut flour pancakes. We both love classic goods, don't get me wrong, and I have a stellar buttermilk pancake recipe coming your way made with copious amounts of wheat flour and butter and happiness. But we tend to agree that delighting in more wholesome treats made with dates instead of sugar, almonds instead of flour and raw cacao instead of highly processed chocolate makes us feel lighter, more energetic and more loved. So this Valentines Day, I made us some vegan brownie love puddings, and we had ourselves a lovely, sweet date. I gave a speech (what's new?) on how much I adore Ben and how happy he makes me, and then we dove into these vegan brownie love puddings, topped with blood plums and a side of coconut whipped cream. I cannot decide whether I prefer them baked or raw (I made both for comparison's sake), so I encourage you to go with your mood and perhaps climate. Ben preferred both. And I love that about him.

Happy Valentines Day, sweet readers.

Vegan Brownie Love Puddings

Serves 2

* Note: you can serve these cooked or raw. In the above picture the cooked pudding is on the left, it's slightly risen and lighter in colour, with a nice fudgey brownie-like texture. The raw pudding tastes like brownie batter and is more of a mousse consistency. For the raw version, leave out the baking powder and serve in whatever sized dish you desire.

Ingredients
1/2 cup raw, unsalted Almonds
5 pitted Medjool Dates (~90g pitted weight)
2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
2 tablespoons Almond or Coconut Milk (or cow's milk, which would make this non-vegan)
2 heaped tablespoons Raw Cacao Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder (you can skip this if eating the pudding raw)
A pinch of Sea Salt

To serve: coconut whipped cream and sliced blood plums or berries

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180degrees Celsius.
2. Blitz the almonds in a food processor until fine (some lumps are fine, this will just mean a more textured bite).
3. Add the dates to the food processor and blitz until very finely chopped.
4. Add the liquid coconut oil (warm it in a pan if it's solid), milk, cacao, baking powder and salt, then blitz until mixed.
5. Grease your ramekins (10.5cm in diameter) with a little coconut oil and then scoop the pudding mixture into them. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon that is slightly moist, then pop into the oven and bake for 15-20minutes until warm and slightly risen and cooked to you liking (you can undercook it and have a more gooey pudding).
6. Serve with your toppings and enjoy!

Heidi xo