It might seem like mankind has come up with most of the deliciously devilish flavours and midnight snacks for us to indulge in, but if you look a little harder, in many cases I think you’ll find that nature was there first, waiting to tempt us all along…

Behold the Black Sapote, a.k.a “the Chocolate Pudding Fruit”. Anyone who has tried this fruit will tell you that it really does taste very much like chocolate pudding (not like some other sorry excuses for gluten free substitutes) and even has the same consistency too. Of course they’re a much healthier alternative to the real deal, lower in fat and contain about four times as much vitamin C as your average orange.

And did I mention it tastes like chocolate pudding?!!

(c) Small Town Chutney

The tropical fruit is a species of persimmon that is grown from an evergreen tree native to eastern Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia but is currently also cultivated in Florida, Australia, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Hawaii. When ripe, the Black Sapote is delicious eaten fresh or used as chocolate substitute in recipes and milkshakes or simply mixed with yogurt and lemon juice. In Mexico the pulp is mashed with orange juice or brandy and served with cream.

Check out this video with some tips about using the Black Sapote from a cultivator in Australia which also sells the fruit trees online.

Some Black sapote trees in the tropics can grow up to 8 meters in height, but there are several variants, including smaller domestic-sized trees that grow to a maximum of four meters. I found this Etsy seller based in California selling seeds and if you have an adventurous local fruit vendor, be sure to ask for the exotic chocolatey fruit.

Here are a few more recipes to tempt you…

Chocolate Sapote Cake with Kumquat Orange Marmalade, recipe here.

Tropical Black Sapote Pudding, Mexican “Unchocolate” Bread and Black Sapote Pie – recipes here.

Black Sapote Chocolate Pudding with banana, honey and coconut milk – recipe here.

Then again, there’s always au naturale…

↑ I’m guessing this baby probably represents your current state of mind right about now.