When thinking about my inaugural post, I wanted to share about something that is eaten very often in our household. My husbands loves it, my little one gulps it like there is no tomorrow. It is the avocado.

The avocado is somewhat of a superfood. Due to their mono and polyunsaturated fat content, avocados are a great substitution for foods rich in saturated fat. Avocados also contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and beneficial plant compounds that can contribute to the nutrient quality of your diet. And it is very yummy.

I asked a few of my friends to name dishes or use of avocado in food. Among the responses I got were: guacamole, in sandwiches or salads, avocado in a burger. Basically, mostly with salty foods or dishes.

However, growing up in Madagascar, we would only eat avocado as a dessert. We would mash it with a fork and add sugar or sweet condensed milk. And as a kid, that was the only way I liked to eat avocado. Sweet.

From time to time, our mom would make a stunt adding cubes of avocado in salads and I absolutely loathed it (sorry mom!). I would very carefully pick out the cubes making sure they did not break and just leave them on the side of my plate (or toss them out of the window into the garden, if I could). My husband on the other hand, as far as I have known him, has always liked to eat avocado on its own, and I have always thought that he was such a weirdo, because he did not add any sugar to it.

I only really started to appreciate eating avocado in salty dishes after I arrived in the United States about 10 years ago. Now, it is one of my favorite food to eat, and it is a staple in our house. Our little boy loves eating guacamole and chips at snack time and I always make sure I add avocado to his smoothie to make it creamy and delicious. But when I would talk to my friends about how we would only eat avocado sweet growing up, that would usually generate some interest.

So I thought for this post, I would share about how I use avocado as a dessert in a few different ways.

Pick avocado that are just ripe enough, still firm but when you push on the skin it gives a little bit, so it is creamy but not overly ripe that it is brown.

Fruity avocado cream

This basic recipe consists in blending avocado with different kinds of add-ons, which results into a creamy, fruity and fresh dessert.

The possibilities are endless but you basically need 4 types of ingredients:

• 2 medium size avocados
• Liquid add-ons: 1/2 cup of orange juice or other fruit juice
• 1/3 cup of solid add-ons: any kind of fruit, but my favorites are pineapple and berries
• 1/8 cup of sweetener: sugar or agave nectar

Put all your ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Scoop out and enjoy!

For an adult version of this creamy dessert, you can use coffee as your liquid add-on. It is delightful!

Avocado also makes fabulous, creamy frozen desserts, perfect for both kids and grown-ups.

Very berry avocado ice-cream

– 3 medium size avocados

• Juice of one orange, freshly pressed or about 1/4 cup of bottled juice
• 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen mixed berries, defrosted ( I use Trader Joe’s Very Cherry Berry Blend, in the frozen aisle)
• 1/4 cup agave nectar

Make a berry puree: Blend the berries until smooth and pass the mix through a sieve to remove the seeds.

Put the 3 avocados, the orange juice, the agave nectar  and half of the berry puree in the blender and blend until smooth. Transfer the mix into an ice-cream maker and churn for 10-20min.

This results into a soft-serve type of ice-cream. For scoopable ice-cream, transfer into another container and place in the freezer for 2-2.5 hours to add more consistency.

Serve with a drizzle of the remainder of the berry puree.

For hot summer days (or for any day for that matter!), popsicles are always a big hit.

Avocado and berries popsicles

• 2 avocados

  

• 1/4 cup of berry puree (as above)
• 1/3 cup of pineapple chunks
• 1/8 cup agave nectar

Blend all the ingredients together and transfer to popsicle molds. Freeze for 4-6h or overnight.

Enjoy!