Chocolate Cups
¾ Cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ to 1 TBSP of coconut oil or Earth Balance
20-24 small foil mini-muffin or candy cups or silicone mini cupcake liners
or 1 dozen large (don’t try it with paper or greased muffin tins. Trust me, I tried the muffin tin thing. (I didn’t try the paper but I’m pretty sure that would be real bad.) You can remelt the chocolate like I did if you don’t take my word for it on the muffin tin thing.)
Or you could use a base of crushed Oreos/coconut oil or Earth Balance... NOTE: these fillings would also work as pie or bars with a cookie crust. I'd suggest making the filling/pie a full day before planning to serve as the coconut cream will stiffen the longer it is refrigerated.
Melt oil over a double boiler, add chips and stir until all melted. Dollop some of the chocolate mixture into each cup and swirl until it covers the sides and bottom of the cup. (Fill about ½ to ¾ full) Place these into the freezer for 20 minutes and then put into the refrigerator.
Then get creative on your fillings.
1 can of full fat coconut milk for starters. (see below)
To make the coconut cream is kind of fun and easy and if you are a coconut fan. This stuff is mildly coconut flavored and decadent. You have to plan ahead or live near a Trader Joe’s. Full fat coconut milk comes in cans. Thai Kitchen makes one as does Geisha, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. You have to chill the can in the refrigerator for three days for the fat part of the milk to separate and harden. (Trader Joe’s usually is so much cream that you don’t have to chill for long.) You will open the can, scrape the white creamy goodness into a mixing bowl. Save the liquid portion for any Thai dishes you might like to cook or smoothies.
You will use the whipper attachment on your mixer and whip the cream into just that, whipped cream. Don’t add sugar yet, that comes next. (If you want to serve plain coconut cream chocolate cups you can add a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla at this point and be done.)
Otherwise you can divide the whipped cream into three different containers if you want to tackle all three (I’m giving the ⅓ recipes below but will do the math and do a whole batch or half batch, too)
Peanut Butter Mousse
⅓ of the coconut cream
1 and ½ TBSP of peanut butter
2 teaspoons of maple syrup or agave
Mix
(whole batch)
Whole can of prepared coconut cream
Rounded ¼ cup peanut butter
2 TBSP maple syrup or agave
(half batch)
Half batch of prepared coconut cream
1 TBSP maple syrup or agave
⅛ Cup peanut butter
Berry or Fruity Mousse
⅓ batch of prepared coconut cream
3 TBSP favorite jam or jelly ( I used seedless raspberry)
Mix well
(whole batch)
Heaped ½ cup favorite jam or jelly
Whole batch prepared coconut cream
(half batch)
¼ cup of favorite jelly or jam
½ a batch of prepared coconut cream
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mousse
⅓ batch of coconut cream
1 TBSP flour
1 ½ TBSP brown sugar
⅛ tsp of salt
¼ tsp of vanilla
1-2 TBSP chocolate chips
Mix well
(whole batch)
1 whole batch of coconut whipped cream
3 TBSP flour
rounded ¼ cup of brown sugar
rounded ¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon of vanilla
¼ cup of chocolate chips
(half batch)
Half a batch of prepared coconut cream
1 ½ TBSP flour
⅛ cup of brown sugar
rounded ⅛ teaspoon of salt
⅓ teaspoon vanilla
⅛ cup of chocolate chips
A full batch will make enough to fill all the chocolate cups with a tiny bit left over. Depending on how many different flavors you choose, use quart size or 1 gallon sized zipper top bag and fill them with your flavors. Make a few days ahead if you want. When ready snip the corner off the bag (big enough that a chocolate chip can slip through but not much bigger). Squirt the mousse filling into the chocolate cups.
