Chocolate-Zucchini Cream in Glasses

What if I told you it is possible to make a delicious chocolate cream with… zucchini? Yes, you read that correctly. Zucchini in a chocolate dessert — and believe me, the result is as surprising as it is good.

That is exactly what I love about plant-based pastry: its capacity to astonish us, to show us pairings we would never have thought of and above all to prove that with simple ingredients you can create real little marvels.

This recipe draws on a world I am particularly fond of and have also learned to work with: living cuisine, also called raw food. An approach that invites us to look at ingredients differently, to explore their natural textures and to discover new ways of combining them, without necessarily going through traditional cooking.

And zucchini is a wonderful example of everything that world has to offer.

We generally know it sautéed, stuffed, in a gratin or in a soup. But who would have imagined it could become one of the ingredients of an incredibly soft, silky chocolate cream?

Paired with chocolate, cashews, banana, plant-based milk, maple syrup, deodorized coconut oil, hazelnut flour and a delicious spread, it contributes to a texture that is melting, generous and full of flavor.

And what pleases me particularly is that the zucchini keeps quiet and lets the chocolate speak fully. You discover a rich cream with lovely hazelnut notes, without necessarily suspecting the ingredient hidden inside.

It is also a recipe that, for me, announces the return of fine weather. From spring, when the first seasonal zucchini start appearing at the market, it is the ideal moment to have fun transforming them another way.

I love this idea of following the seasons, making the most of what they offer and showing that a vegetable can sometimes find its place exactly where you would not expect it.

And what I love about this cream is how simple it is, and how much it makes possible.

You can make it ahead, divide it among nice glasses and keep it in the refrigerator so that over the following days you have a small chocolate something to hand, rather as you would with homemade yogurts or pots of custard.

You can also make it richer still by adding a crisp crumble on top, a few chopped hazelnuts or why not some fresh seasonal fruit. The contrast between the soft cream and the crunch of the crumble is absolutely delicious.

And that is not all.

This preparation can also become a magnificent base for a summer cake, a dessert to share or a more elaborate creation. That is the whole point of recipes you learn to master: they become playgrounds for your own creativity.

I find it fascinating to start from ingredients almost all of us have in the kitchen and to give them a second life, another dimension, a place entirely unexpected in our desserts.

That is the curiosity I want to pass on through Les Secrets d’une Cheffe. To show you that plant-based, gluten-free pastry is not simply about replacing ingredients, but that it also opens up a culinary world that is incredibly rich, indulgent and creative.

And sometimes a single zucchini is all it takes to start opening that door.