Avocado Back-to-Back : Avocado Mousse with Gula Melaka

 

This dessert is really bad for me.  It combines four of my favourite ingredients, so I ended up eating triple double portion.  I go weak at gula melaka, so I kept stealing extra spoonfuls to flood my mousse.  If Gasing Hill was next to my house, I could have sprinted up and down the entire track several times just on a sugar high LOL!

In all seriousness, this is a lovely dessert and very unusual.  When I read this on Mich's blog, I couldn't wait to try it.  Here's a modified version of it - minus the coconut and coffee (I was lazy to buy coconut, and no coffee so my son can eat). 

This dessert has three stages:

1. Make the gula melaka syrup
2. Make the gula melaka agar agar
3. Make the mousse and assemble the whole thing

Allow at least 3 hours to make this, as you will need to wait for the agar agar to set before cutting into cubes, as well as let the gula melaka syrup cool down completely.  Once both are done, the last bit takes no time at all.  

Avocado Mousse with Gula Melaka
Adapted from Piece of Cake
Serves 4 small servings

• 2 ripened avocadoes, chilled
• 1 packet (about 250g) of gula melaka, roughly chopped
• 1 packet (10g) of instant agar agar powder (you need much less for this dessert, but no point opening the packet just to make a few jelly cubes, might as well cook the whole thing) 
• 15ml water
• 3 heaped tbspn of chilled Greek yogurt (omit the water if using regular yogurt)

1.  Roughly chop up the gula melaka.  Using a heavy based stainless steel saucepan, add in about 2 tbspn of water and all the chopped gula melaka.  Over a low heat, gently stir to melt the gula melaka into a thick syrup.  Be careful not to burn the bottom.  Pour into clean bottle jars and let it cool.       

2.  Follow the instructions on the agar agar packet to cook the jelly.  Usually the ratio is 1.2 litre of water to cook the whole packet of powder.  Once the agar agar has melted into the boiling water, add in the gula melaka syrup until the desired sweetness.  Pour about 5 tbsp into a 5x5inch square glass container, (the rest into jelly moulds), let it cool down, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Cut it into small cubes.

3.  Make sure the avocadoes are fully ripened.  They should have turned purply black, and soft to the touch at the top part.  Chill the ripened avocadoes for at least 4-6 hours.

4.  De-seed the avocadoes and scoop out the flesh into a blender.  Add the yogurt and a little water, and blend until it becomes smooth and creamy.

5.  Scoop out onto serving bowls and top with the gula melaka syrup and jelly cubes.  Serve immediately.

This is a good way to get your kid to try avocado.