The MOST Incredible Chocolate Pie You’ve Ever Tasted!

It’s true, I swear! Utterly decadent, rich, creamy, but healthy all at the same time. This is not like a traditional pie that can be overpoweringly sweet or makes you feel heavy in the tummy after eating – this pie must be tried to be believed and will have folks begging for more!

Filling

• 1 cup cacao powder (you can use cocoa but cacao is less processed and refined and so retains more nutrients)
• 4 big avocados
• 3/4 cup agave or honey
• 1 tsp pure vanilla essence (make sure you splurge on the good stuff not that vanilla flavouring fake stuff – you can really taste the difference!)

Pie Crust

• 2 cups almonds / macadamias / walnuts / brazil nuts / pecans (or any nut you like really! Peanuts are probably a bit too, well, peanutty though)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup of firmly packed dates
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries  (I can’t stand cranberry sauce so just adding a bit of the Christmas dinner shine here but without the turkey)

Method

1. Soak the dates for 10 mins or so in water
2. Combine all the crust ingredients in a food processor (unless your food processor breaks down halfway through crushing the nuts and you have to put the remainder inside a plastic bag and wrap it in a tea towel and go outside and find some cement and smash the nuts with a meat masher that your brilliant 15 year old stepson made in Metalworks). Use the water from the date soaking to lubricate the mix. Don’t add too much date water, just enough for the mix to move through your processor until it’s a nice, crusty consistency. It doesn’t have to be too smooth.
3. Grab a pie dish and line it with baking paper. Press your crust mix evenly into your pie dish going up the sides and everywhere.
4. Now for the filling. Combine all the filling ingredients too a deliciously smooth texture. You can use a food processor if you like (once you’ve cleaned out the filling remnants) but by hand in a big bowl works quite well too. Make sure you stick a finger in along the way and try it – SOOOOO yummy!
5. Pour the filling into your pie crust.
6. Freeze your pie for 2 – 3 hours. It will go pretty solid and it’s quite easy to slice. You can carefully pull it out all in one piece for easy slicing of pieces once the cake has frozen.
7. For best eating results, slice and serve the pie and wait about 15 minutes for the filling to gently soften for the absolute chocolate melt in your mouth experience. You decorate the top with strawberries or blueberries or sprigs of mint or sprinkles of coconut – whatever you like!

The start of a new Christmas tradition methinks…