Avocado Mousse with Gula Melaka, Coconut and Coffee

Avocados – some love it, and some hate it. Even those who are not so keen on the taste of the fruit may change their minds after trying this Asian-inspired dessert. Here, rippened avocados are first blended with coconut juice into a creamy mousse, then topped with a syrup of gula meleka and espresso, and finally garnished with shreds of fresh coconut. Sounds like an unlikely combination but one that is totally delicious!

I love it that we do not need any cream to make this mousse as avocados are naturally creamy and rich. I made a non-coffee flavoured one for my daughter and she ended up wanting my coffee -flavoured one. This dessert is quick to prepare – all it takes is a couple of minutes with a blender. The most important thing is to make sure that the avocados are ripe. They need to be dark and slightly soft when you press on the skin.

The recipe suggests that you first prepare the avocado mousse and then chill it while preparing the gula meleka and coffee syrup. However,  I would not recommending leaving the mousse around for too long as may oxidise and change colour. As such, I have amended the steps by preparing the gula meleka syrup and espresso separately first. If you find that the gula meleka has thickened too much as it cools down while you are making the mousse, heat it quickly and it will become thinner.

Avocado Mousse with Coconut, Coffee and Gula Melaka (Serves 6)
Recipe adapted from Slyvia Tan

Ingredients:

• 8 ripe avocados
• 1 young Thai coconut, flesh and water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup broken up gula melaka (palm sugar) or bottled gula melaka syrup
• ½ cup expresso coffee

Method:

1. Prepare the gula melaka syrup, break up a block of palm sugar to fill a cup. Place broken pieces into a small pot. Add half cup water and heat gently till sugar melts into a brown syrup. Strain into a cup.

2. Prepare the espresso (or instant coffee granules) according to the instructions on the package. Set aside both the gula melaka syrup and espresso.

3. Cut off ends of avocados and squeeze pulp right into the blender. Add coconut water from one coconut and sugar. Blend till smooth. Set aside. (I suggest that you refrigerate the avocados and coconut first before preparing this dessert so that you get a cold dessert). Divide mousse among eight clear glass dessert cups.

3. Mix the gula meleka syrup and espresso together. If the gula meleka syrup has thickened due to cooling, reheat it quickly before mixing. Add a swirl of gula melaka and coffee syrup into the avocado mousse and stir through to create a marbled effect. Top with the freshly shaved flesh from the young coconut.