This post was created in partnership with Nuts.com.
Pudding/mousse-like desserts are my favorite, and coming up with new, simple chocolate pudding recipes is sort of a hobby (check out this Whipped Chocolate Chia Pudding and this Black and White Chocolate Pudding from the archives). Most times, a new chocolate pudding recipe happens when a craving hits at the most inconvenient of times. Instead of going to the store, I work with whatever ingredients I have on hand to create something satisfying. I pretty much always have cacao powder around, and I go from there, figuring out what I can use for the creamy element, then the sweetener. The creaminess can come from anything from avocado to sweet potato, cacao butter to coconut fat, to agar. For sweetener, I usually stick with maple syrup or dates, both of which are a constant in my pantry.
This sweet potato version is my new favorite because it comes together in a flash, especially if you are in the habit of roasting up a few whole sweet potatoes on the weekend, like I am. It tastes perfectly luxurious, and it’s so easy to spruce it up with all kinds of super-powders – in this case, powerful adaptogenic mushroom powders.
from left to right: lion’s mane, reishi, and chaga powders
Mushrooms are having such a moment right now, and that makes us really happy because we are downright obsessed with everything to do with them, from the thrill of foraging for mushrooms, to their flavor, to their superpowers, which as it turns out are many. My father was an avid mushroom hunter, and he really instilled that love in both of us. Him and my mom had a ritual of going far and high up into the Caucasus Mountains for a few weeks in the late summer to gather mushrooms and berries. It was one of the most remote places I’ve ever been, with wild, beautiful, and rugged nature, where it would be warm and sunny one minute, and cold and snowing the next. Run ins with wild animals were not unusual, and the clouds often descended so low to the ground that you could walk through them. My father would disappear into the woods for whole days, only to return covered with mud, with baskets of the most beautiful, fragrant mushrooms on his arms. We would then spend all our days cleaning, cooking, and canning the mushrooms, and no meal would go by without some kind of mushroom component for the next few weeks.
All (edible) mushrooms carry some sort of health benefits, but adaptogenic mushrooms like lion’s mane, chaga and reishi are regarded as the kings and queens of medicinal mushrooms. Adaptogens are defined as natural substances that are able to adapt their healing properties to focus on whatever your body needs during any given time, instead of serving one limited function. The way we understand it is that they’re basically able to determine what’s out of balance and then work to bring it back into equilibrium. Isn’t that so mind-blowingly cool?
Our awesome partner, Nuts.com just started offering organic lion’s mane, chaga and reishi mushroom powders, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Although all three are adaptogens, each one of the mushrooms is known for slightly different properties. Lion’s mane is generally said to be great for concentration and memory, chaga is known for helping with immunity, overall energy and well-being, and reishi might become your friend when it comes to dealing with stress and sleeping well.
Our favorite way to incorporate these mushroom powders into our daily life is by sprinkling them into drinks like our Tahini Hot Chocolate, in snacks like our Energy Bites, or in healthful desserts like this Sweet Potato Chocolate Pudding. We find that mushrooms powders go really well with chocolatey flavors and go unnoticed when added to something like the drinks/dishes mentioned above. People also love adding them to coffee.
Here are some more mushroom-related links:
– Founder of Four Sigmatic, Tero Isokauppila on Rich Roll + The Four Sigmatic Mushroom Academy
– Mycologist Paul Stamets on Joe Rogan
- 1 medium sweet potato - baked whole, peeled and roughly chopped
- fat from one 13.5 oz can of full fat coconut milk (see notes)
- ¼ - ⅓ cup raw cacao powder
- 3-4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon maca powder
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon lion's mane, reishi or chaga mushroom powder, or all of the above (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- cacao nibs - for garnish (optional)
- Combine all the ingredients in a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth, scraping the walls if necessary. Enjoy the pudding right away, sprinkled with cacao nibs, or place in the refrigerator to cool for about an hour. The pudding consistency will harden a bit and become more mousse-like after some time in the fridge.
Imola says
Looks delicious! Do you think it would work as a frosting for a birthday cake?
Anya says
Hi!
I think you probably could! Just put it in the fridge for a little bit, maybe 20-30 minutes so that it thickens a bit (but not too much) and then frost the cake :)
mohit kumar says
Looks amazing!! Going to make this in the upcoming days!! Thanks for the receipe.
I love chocolates!!
Anya says
Thank you Mohit :)
Natalie | Feasting on Fruit says
Your photography is pure magic! This looks incredible <3
Anya says
Thank you so much Natalie! We love your videos <3
Lucie says
what a beautifully crafted recipe! can’t wait to try…
Anya says
Thank you so much Lucie :)
Natalie says
I love the mousse/pudding also. Actually, I tried to make the mousse for the first time of my life last week and it turned out a disaster. At first, it was too loose so I added more powder, it became a powder mousse, not a chocolate mousse any more ?
The taste of sweet potato chocolate for the pudding must be very yum. Hope I have time to try it again ?
Anya says
Hi Natalie,
Did you try to make our Black and White Chocolate Mousse recipe or some other mousse recipe? If you tried ours, I’m curious to know which powder you are talking about. Also, did you use agar flakes or powder?
Thank you!
Natalie says
Hi Anya,
I didn’t try yours but another one and I used the powder.
Well, I will find your Black and White Chocolate Mousse and try next time :)
kate says
Made this tonight to satisfy a choc. craving, it is rich and delicious! I would recommend some of the coconut milk fat to be placed on top of the finished dish along with the cacao nibs. Soooo yummy and so easy! Thank you.
Anya says
Hi Kate,
Yay, so glad you enjoyed it!!! Great idea about the coconut fat :)
kristin says
yum! this sounds great.
Anya says
Thank you :)
Alvin Charles says
Nice Dish.
For how many days can we keep this into a fridge?
Anya says
Thanks! I would say 3-4.