Coconut Chocolate Bowls
Now this is fun. Coconut almond sorbet served in chocolate bowls. The idea is to make the dessert look like coconuts. It worked out well and tasted great. The whole dessert is dairy free and vegan as well. Great for people who have issues with dairy. You won’t miss the dairy in this recipe. The sorbet is smooth and creamy.
These are fun to serve for summer parties. You can make everything ahead of time, assemble and keep in the freezer until you want them. I served them at an April Fool’s Dinner a while back.
So here are the directions for the bowls and the recipe for the sorbet.
The bowls are made by dipping inflated balloons in melted bittersweet chocolate. Then you coat them is desiccated coconut to cover the chocolate. Desiccated coconut is dry and unsweetened. It looks like white bread crumbs. You can find it at Asian markets (it is the type of coconut used for coconut shrimp) . It is also found at cake decorating and candy making stores.
Place them on wax paper. Let the bowls set- in fridge or freezer- until the chocolate hardens. Then you just pop the balloons and remove them. You are left with a chocolate bowl. I have the best luck removing the balloons when I put the bowls in the freezer to set. Fill the bowls with the sorbet- you could use vanilla ice cream, I suppose, but the coconut sorbet really is better in this dish.
You can serve them as is- or top with some fresh fruit or chocolate sauce.
Inspired by a friend who can’t have dairy, I made this coconut sorbet. I started with a can of coconut milk, added some almond milk, sweetened it, and added vanilla for a little added flavor. So simple and really tasty.
It has a lot of the creaminess of a dairy based dessert. In fact, if you didn’t know, you would probably think there is some milk or cream in this sorbet, even though there isn’t.
Looking forward to making some for my vegan niece the next time she comes to town.
Coconut Almond Sorbet
1 can (13.5 oz.) coconut milk
1 c. almond milk
¼ c. sugar- or to taste
2 t. vanilla
Combine all ingredients in bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Place in an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Makes 1 quart.
Note: If you don’t have an ice cream machine, you can freeze the sorbet in a shallow tray. Once frozen, remove from freezer and let it soften a few minutes. Break into chunks and process in a food processor to soften. Return to freezer until ready to eat.
