Fluffy vegan chocolate mousse
A simple yet indulgent chocolate mousse recipe. Ever since I’ve read about the brilliant invention of aquafaba ‘egg whites’, I’ve been massively obsessed with it. Every single person who tries to whip chickpea water like egg whites has the same reaction – that of amazement & excitement. It opens up so many possibilities, not only for vegans, but also for people with egg allergies. (ever increasing bc vaccines are raised on chicken eggs, creating an immune response to the proteins later on).
Ingredients
1 cup chickpea water
from 400g can of low-sodium chickpeas
OR home cooked chickpeas
dash cream of tartar
1 Tbs coconut sugar
140 g dark (70% cocoa) chocolate
2 pinches of hot chili powder (optional)
GARNISH (optional)
1 tbsp chocolate shavings
a handful of pomegranate seeds
a handful of chopped pistachios
Method
1. IF COOKING YOUR OWN CHICKPEAS:
Soak 1 c chickpeas in water overnight (enough to cover it a couple inches, at least 8 hours)
Discard soaking water and rinse.
Put in a pot with plenty of fresh water and cook for about 1 hour or until tender.
alternatively, use instant pot, high 5 min, then release naturally 20 min
Do not skim the surface foam, do not use salt or baking soda. Once chickpeas are done, remove the chickpeas, and simmer the water for about 10-15 minutes or so (without a lid), to reduce it slightly. You want the liquid to get a little bit thicker, like a thin syrup.
Take off the stove, cool and sieve any chickpea bits that may be left floating in the water before whipping it up.
2. Break the chocolate into smaller chunks and melt it very slowly over a water bath. My electric hob goes from 1-6, I used setting #2 to melt the chocolate – it’s important to do it slowly so that chocolate doesn’t overheat. Once the chocolate has melted, take the bowl off the water bath and place it on a kitchen towel to cool down.
3. If using canned chickpeas, open your tin of chickpeas and drain the chickpea water into large glass bowl (the bowl needs to be completely grease-free and that’s easiest to achieve with a glass bowl). One can should give you 1 cup of chickpea water. Reserve the chickpeas for another use, like hummus, salad or burgers.
4. Using an electric egg whisk whip the chickpea water into stiff peaks. I used an old hand-held whisk and it took me 5-10 minutes to get stiff peaks. If you are a lucky owner of a stand mixer, it will happen quicker.
5. Once you get stiff peaks, add cream of tartar, and start adding sugar, bit by bit, whipping the whole time. If sugar has caused the stiff peaks to perish, whip the mixture until you get stiff peaks again.
6. Check that the chocolate has cooled down sufficiently – it should not be warm to the touch. Add it in gradually, making sure you fold it gently each time. Use a manual egg whisk or a spatula. Do not worry if your fluffy mixture deflates once the chocolate has been added – that’s perfectly normal. By the time you’ve added all of your melted chocolate, the mousse will have more of a pourable consistency. Add chilli powder if using and mix well. Divide the mixture between 4 glasses. Gently stir the mixture between putting it into individual glasses as a bit of melted chocolate tends to drop to the bottom sometimes.
7. Put glasses into the fridge for minimum 3 hours for the mousse to set. I tend to chill mine overnight and it’s perfectly set and fluffy each time.
Other aquafaba recipes to try!
peanut butter cookies::
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter (or any nut butter or nut butter substitute)
2 tablespoons applesauce
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 of your favourite sugar substitute
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Mix the dry ingredients well and then add the wet. Form into balls and press with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cookies may look undercooked but let them cool and they will firm up!
