Chocolate Macaroon Soup With Almond Biscotti Croutons (Vegan)

Dessert soups are more often fruity, summer types dishes, but I wanted to make one that would be more appropriate for an insanely cold and dark February evening.  Fair warning, this is super-rich, but if you like chocolate and coconut, this is basically a  bowl of warm, melty macaroons. So, you'll probably dig it.

The biscotti adds texture and provides a less sweet counter taste (there is not as much sugar in this as most biscotti recipes) but I added a few other garnish suggestions as well.

Quick comment on egg replacer vs. cornstarch.  I used both in this, but either one would do the trick.  But I have found that in soups/sauces I can taste the egg replacer while cornstarch in not detectable.

Also, you'll notice I used date sugar.  I'm sure regular sugar will work just fine, I'm just being a hippie about it.

Enjoy!

Step 1: Ingredients

Chocolate Soup
1 Can coconut milk (14 ounces)
1/4 cup date sugar
2 Tablespoons raw cocoa powder
2 teaspoons amaretto
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon corn starch

Biscotti Croutons
1 cup flour
1/4 cup chopped almonds (or cocoa almonds)
1/8 cup date sugar
2 egg equivalent of egg replacer (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons amaretto
1 teaspoon chocolate extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Tools
Mixing bowls
Baking Sheet
Saucepan
Whisk
Serrated knife
Chopping knife
Cutting board
Parchment paper
Zester
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Ramekins for serving

Makes just over 2 servings.

Step 2: Make Biscotti

First, the biscotti...

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF
2. Prepare egg replacer (1 Tbs egg replacer* to 4 Tbs water)
3. Chop almonds
4. In a mixing bowl,combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
5. In a separate bowl, mix egg replacer, amaretto, chocolate extract lemon zest and sugar
6. Add flour to wet ingredients and mix by hand (dough will be dry, but should be able to stick together when pressed)
7. Mix in chopped almonds
8. Form dough into a log and bake in oven for 20 - 25 minutes

Step 3: Biscotti Continued

As the biscotti nears completion, I would suggest making the soup after Step 2 below.

1. Remove biscotti from oven (turn oven down to Warm) and let them cool to the touch
2. Using serrated knife, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, lay on side and return to the oven for 15 minutes to toast.
3. Once cooled, break into smaller pieces.  Since this is the smallest biscotti recipe I thought would be reasonable to make, there will probably be more croutons than you want for the soup, so you make want to leave a few larger pieces to serve along with the dish or for coffee the next day : )

And in case you don't want to spend this much time on what is basically a handful of crumbs, here are a few vegan and non-vegan alternative garnish suggestions...

• Chopped almonds and/or toasted coconut
• Whipped cream sprinkled with cocoa powder (there are vegan whipped cream recipes out there)
• Whipped cream with a cherry (that just goes well on most things)
• Marshmallows - hey, why not?

Step 4: Chocolate Soup

And now for the soup...

1. Prepare corn starch (1 tsp corn starch to 1 tsp water, mix until smooth)
2. Heat coconut milk in the saucepan and bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally     (Note: Whisk pretty much continuously during all steps)
3. Add cornstarch
4. Add date sugar and whisk until dissolved
5. Add amaretto and vanilla
6. Add cocoa powder and mix until smooth

Pour into ramekins top with biscotti croutons and you're done.

Thanks for checking this out!