Rich, creamy, and dairy-free decadence straight from the garden. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with an abundance of ripe avocados, this Avocado Chocolate Tart is the answer. It’s rich, silky, and deeply chocolatey—yet made with simple, wholesome ingredients. Best of all, it’s quick to prepare, doesn’t require any complicated steps, and feels like something straight out of a fancy café.
This is one of my go-to dessert creations whenever avocados are in season. The creamy avocado filling pairs beautifully with a nutty, chocolate-infused base, while the candied mint leaves and fresh strawberries add balance, brightness, and a little garden-to-plate magic.
Whether you’re looking for a showstopper dessert for guests or just want something rich and indulgent for yourself, this tart is a winner.
Why Avocados Make the Perfect Dessert
What makes this tart extra special is the use of avocados, not just as a healthy substitute, but as a creamy, indulgent base that rivals any traditional custard or ganache. Avocados are packed with healthy fats, fiber, and essential nutrients. The natural creaminess of ripe avocados blends beautifully with dark chocolate, creating a smooth, luscious texture without the need for cream or butter. It’s a great way to sneak more whole foods into your diet while still treating yourself. Plus, using seasonal produce like homegrown avocados makes this dessert even more rewarding, connecting what’s on your plate to what’s growing in your garden.
Avocado Chocolate Tart with Candied Mint Leaves
Prep Time: 6 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours
Ingredients
Chocolate base
2 1/2 cups (225g) walnuts (or any nut/seed)
1 1/2 cups pitted dates soaked*
Pinch salt
3 TBSP Cocoa powder
Filling
3 ripe Avocados
4 tsp maple syrup or brown sugar
120grams dark melting chocolate
pinch salt
1/4 cup oat milk (or milk of choice)
Optional strawberries to garnish
Candied Mint Leaves
10 + Mint leaves
1 Egg White or Aquafaba (chickpea water)
Caster sugar to sprinkle
Instructions
MINT LEAVES - Prepare the candied mint leaves ahead of baking for at least 6 hours (ideally the night before).
Whisk egg white until frothy.
Prepare a tray with baking paper. Lightly coat the mint leaves in egg white by dipping them in and wiping off excess on the edge of the bowl.
Sprinkle both sides with sugar and place on the baking paper tray.
Allow to rest at room temperature for 6 hours + or overnight. I stored them in my dehydrator (switched off) to keep any bugs off. Store in an airtight container and use within a day or two.
BASE:Soak the dates in a bowl with hot water for 1 hour prior to starting.
Blitz the nuts in a food processor or similar until a fine crumble.
Add in drained dates, salt, and cocoa, and blitz to combine. The mix should be moist enough to hold shape in your hands and not fall apart.
Press base mix into a greased 25cm tart pan.
Bake at 160 degrees for 15 minutes or until edges start to brown.
Remove and allow to cool. Remove from the tray when half cooled and place on the serving dish.
FILLING - Scoop avocado flesh out into a mixer and add the maple syrup, salt, and milk. Blitz to combine and there are no chunks of avocado left.
Melt chocolate over a double boiler (place a saucepan of water on the stove and add the chocolate to a second pot sitting on top).
Pour melted chocolate into the avocado mix and continue to mix until combined.
Spread filling into the cooled base and top with fresh strawberries, candied mint leaves, and edible flowers.
Finishing Touches
Top your avocado chocolate tart with sliced fresh strawberries, candied mint leaves, and a few edible flowers if you have them. The combination of textures and colours not only makes this tart visually stunning, but also elevates the flavours to something truly special.
Celebration of Seasonal Abundance
This avocado chocolate tart is a celebration of seasonal abundance and simple ingredients. It’s a beautiful example of how your garden can inspire decadent, nutritious treats that impress without fuss. Whether you’re growing avocados or simply want to try a plant-powered dessert, give this recipe a go.
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Learn how to grow Avocado (Persea americana) at home and what to make with your abundant avocado crops! Avocado is a popular fruit that can be a little tricky to grow. Choosing the right variety for your climate and getting some key care points right should have you picking homegrown avocados for years to come!
Avocados can be used as evergreen shade trees or grown in pots for urban areas. Avocado trees can reach heights of 12+ meters if they are not pruned. Smaller dwarf trees will reach maximum heights of around 4 meters, but can also be pruned to keep them smaller.
Avocados are best grown from grafted trees. Growing an Avocado from seed can take anywhere from 4 to 13 years or longer to get fruit. Even then, you have no idea what the fruit will be like, as it will not be identical to the plant the seed came from. Grafted trees have mature fruiting stems grafted onto allow the tree to bear fruit within a year or two.
Free-draining compost-rich soil.Mounded above ground in clay soil.
LOCATION
Full sun – part. 6-8 hours.Can benefit from afternoon shade.
CARE
Keep weed-free and well-mulched.Protect from wind and hot afternoon sun when young.
FERTILISE
Feed with compost and mulch.
PESTS
Excess water and fungal diseases are the most common cause. Rats may eat the fruit.
HARVEST
Fruit takes about 1 year on the tree to ripen. Skin goes dull and some may drop from the tree.
REPRODUCE
Can be grown by seed but may take 10+ years to fruit. Mature wood grafted from fruiting-age trees is best.
Why Grow Your Own Avocado?
Here are some of the many reasons to grow Avocados.
Evergreen shade-giving tree
Perennial crops
It can be expensive to buy!
Can be used in sweet and savoury dishes
Prolific producer
Long harvests
High in vitamin E and folate
High in fibre
Substitute for butter
Popular Avocado Varieties to Grow
Avocados come in A and B varieties. Each type flowers as male and female at different times of the day. Having both an A and a B-type Avocado will mean you will get more avocados due to an increase in pollination. Most avocados will be self-fertile, but having a second will increase the amount you get. Dwarf or semi-dwarf avocados will grow to be smaller trees, but unlike other swarf fruit trees, they will still be up to 4m high. Keeping them pruned can maintain their size.
Type (A) Varieties
Hass – Popular small dark-skinned avocado. Most commonly found in stores due to its tough skin for transport. Small fruit, a great producer.
Reed – Large green round fruit 200-800 grams. Mild and buttery flavour. The tree tends to grow upright rather than outwards.
Choquette – Large green round fruit weighing over 1kg! Creamy, rich flesh. A cross between a Guatemalan and a West Indian type.
Semi Dwarf
Lamb Hass – Large dark-skinned avocado. Semi-dwarf tree growing 3-4 metres. Late-season fruits.
Pinkerton – Medium-sized green-skinned fruit. Semi-dwarf tree growing 3-4 metres. High oil content.
Wurtz – Medium-sized green pear-shaped fruit. Semi-dwarf tree growing 3-4 metres. Weeping branches that hang downward.
Type (B) Varieties
Shepard – Popular commercial variety. Green skin and yellow firm flesh. Smaller tree size 6-8 metres.
Bacon – Most cold-tolerant variety (may survive -5 degrees). Large pear-shaped fruit with green skin.
Fuerte – Small – medium-sized green fruit. Thin skin and buttery flesh. Produces both normal-sized and mini seedless avocados called “cukes”. Crops more biannually (every second season). Vigorous spreading tree.
Zutano – Pear-shaped fruit with green glossy skin. Low oil content and can be quite watery.
Sharwill – Medium-sized oval fruit with green skin. Rich flavour and small seeds. Frost sensitive.
Linda – Large fruit with dark purple skin. Fruits from 400-1100g each. Thick skin that is easy to peel.
TOP TIPS TO GROW AVOCADO
Choose a sunny location
Shelter from the wind or able to create shelter
Prepare the soil with plenty of compost
Free draining is key!
Avocados hate clay soils – mound up above the ground rather than planting down in a hole
Do not disturb roots when removing from the pot!
Protect from the hot afternoon sun
Keep grass and weeds away from the base
Keep weed-free and well-mulched
When to PlantAvocados
Avocados don’t like the cold or the extreme heat, so avoid planting them in winter or summer. Choose a day when the weather will be mild for a few consecutive days.
How to Grow an Avocado
Choose a sunny location with 6-8 hours of sunlight.
Choose a location that can be protected from winds (shade cloth can help)
Dig a hole and prepare the soil with compost. Mix compost and sandy soil together. For clay soils, backfill with compost and sandy soil, and create a mound above the ground.
Carefully remove the Avocado carefully by cutting the bag or gently easing it from the pot. Try not to disturb roots when possible.
Gently push soil against the root ball and push down with your hands to remove air pockets.
Add a stake to help secure the tree, but do not push it through the root ball.
Add mulch as wide as you can approx 1m but pull back from the trunk so it does not touch (this can cause collar rot)
Add a shelter of shade cloth to the side that gets wind and afternoon hot sun.
Paint any exposed stems with water-based white paint (nontoxic) at a ratio of about 50% paint and 50% water. This acts as sunscreen, which is important for Perth summers!
Care/ Maintenance
Avocados like plenty of food, regular top-ups with compost and mulch are important. The biggest issue with Avocados is too much water, sun or wind.
Feeding
Feed with compost or composted manure at the end of winter, before spring, and end of summer.
Watering
Deep water, especially in summer. Push your finger into the soil to the second knuckle; if it comes out dry, water well. If the soil on your finger sticks and is mois,t leave it be.
Harvesting
Avocados, like many fruit trees, should be prevented from fruiting for the first 1-3 years. Wait until the flowers sprout on long stems, then remove them. Once you start letting your Avocado fruit, it will take 1 year from when the fruit sets until it is ready to harvest. Some Avocados stay green when they are ready and ripen off the tree, so here are a few ways to tell if they are ready to pick.
Skin turns from glossy to dull
Stem lightens
It’s within the varieties’ “mature fruit months” (research for your variety and area)
Pick one and let it ripen on the bench for a week or two. If it is delicious and buttery, you can harvest more. If it shrivels and goes black, it is not ready and try again in 2-3 weeks.
Fruit starts falling on the ground.
Pruning
The Avocado tree can grow to be a huge 10 m+ tree if left unpruned. Once your tree reaches 2m or your desired height, you can start pruning it. Be selective and try to remove branches whilst still allowing shade to the other parts of the tree. Try not to remove the bottom “skirt branches” as these protect the stem from being burnt. If once you prune the tree, there are areas of stem exposed, paint with white water-based paint (50:50 water mixed) to add protection.
Pests / Disease
Avocados mainly succumb to bacterial diseases due to excess water. Don’t water the leaves when possible and allow good drainage for the roots.
Reproducing
Seeds from the Avocados can be grown and will produce a new variety. Seed-grown Avocados can take 10+ years to actually fruit, and you never know what the fruit will be like. The best way to reproduce is to grow an Avocado from seed and then graft onto it from a tree that is already fruiting and mature. But also, if you have the room, there is no reason not to try seed grown as you may end up with an exciting new variety.
Cooking and Using
Avocado is a powerhouse in the kitchen and can be used in a wide array of ways.
