Cha Cha Cha Chia! Raw Chocolate Chia Pudding Trifle Recipe!

Chia Seeds are so very healthy for you...they aren't just used to grow cute chia pets! They are a favorite staple ingredient amongst raw foodists...Here is an informative video clip telling you all about chia seed and it's health benefits:

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=F99BA7CA912165275467CC90764F2738
I LOVE chia seed; it is AMAZING! It is great for my digestion and it makes some delicious and nutritious desserts (it is also a great ingredient to implement into many different recipes). We use Nutiva brand Chia Seed found here:

Here is the recipe for a "Raw Dark Chocolate Chia Pudding Trifle with Strawberries and All-Natural Vanilla Wafers" that my husband and I made this weekend!


Raw Dark Chocolate Chia Pudding Trifle with Strawberries and All-Natural Vanilla Wafers

Ingredients-

Pudding:

1/2 cup chia seed
1 1/2 raw goats milk (any milk will work for this recipe)
6 tablespoons raw cocoa powder (any cocoa powder will work for this recipe)
3 raw egg yolks; preferably from local farm fresh pastured (NOT pasteurized!) eggs
1/3 cup - 1/2 cup chopped dates (or as sweet as you would like it; "to taste")
1 - 2 tablespoon raw local honey (or as sweet as you would like it; "to taste")
2 tablespoons coconut cream concentrate (We got ours from Tropical Traditions)
1 ripe banana
1/4 tsp. sea salt
A splash of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (optional)

Meringue:

3 raw egg whites ; preferably from local farm fresh pastured (NOT pasteurized!) eggs (we used 4 egg whites because we wanted more meringue for layering)
organic cane sugar ("to taste"...we used Organic Florida Crystals)

Trifle Remaining Layering Ingredients:

sliced strawberries (preferably organic)
all-natural vanilla wafers (we used used Organic Vanilla Wafers from Country Choice)

Instructions:

Add the milk to the chia seed in a medium sized mixing bowl, stir, and let sit until the chia seed absorbs the milk and has a gelatin consistency (about 10-15 minutes). Add six tablespoons raw cocoa powder and stir into the milk and chia mixture. Separate three egg yolks from three egg whites and add the egg yolks to the chia seed mixture; set the egg whites aside for meringue. Now you can pour the chia mixture into a blender or Vita Mix, and add coconut cream concentrate, banana, sea salt, and honey...slowing add the chopped dates while pulsing the blender (add a splash of spiced rum if you want...we did!) and then blend the pudding up til smooth.

Make meringue by beating the three (or four) egg whites with the sugar until the mixture forms soft peaks.

Layer the bottom of your trifle dish with all-natural vanilla wafers, putting some decoratively propped up on the sides of the dish as well. Then add a layer of your raw chocolate chia pudding, then a layer strawberries, then meringue, then repeat the layers until you reach the top and put meringue and sliced strawberries on the very top. Vwa la...Enjoy!!!