Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Whipped Coconut Cream (… made with aquafaba!)

Dear fellow chocolate lovers, here’s a delicious chocolate mousse made with a magic ingredient, and topped with a whipped coconut cream. I made it in a vegan version, so it’s also egg-free and dairy-free!

Chocolate mousse is one of the most popular desserts in France and probably a recipe I could prepare eyes closed. My favorite version is indeed extremely easy to remember as it requires two ingredients only: chocolate and eggs (no, I don’t even use sugar or milk in my recipe). Now, you can also create a vegan version of this classic with the exact same taste and texture – a texture you could hardly achieve with an avocado or coconut cream based chocolate mousse. So how to replace egg whites with the same result?

It may seem a bold idea at first, but it has become so popular lately that I am pretty sure you already heard of this magic ingredient before: aquafaba (even the name is magic!). The mousse gets all its fluffiness from aquafaba, that slowly transfers into a white fluffy mass similar to the white consistency of whipped egg whites. But what is aquafaba exactly, and more importantly today, how do we make mousse out of aquafaba? Curious? Read along!

Despite its fancy name, aquafaba is actually something quite trivial that you’ve probably seen before without paying any attention to it. Aquafaba is indeed the viscous canned chickpea liquid, that you usually throw away when draining the chickpeas, or the cooking liquid left if you cook your own chickpeas. It’s not even a joke!

The first time I’ve heard of the use of the canned chickpea liquid to recreate a perfect egg white fluffy texture, I got curious straight away. I tried it first in a chocolate mousse and I remember that I was amazed by the result: the chocolate mousse could have been made with real egg whites, I wouldn’t have noticed any difference. Although the smell of the raw liquid is not very appealing at first, it disappears entirely and becomes neutral in taste once whipped and added to the chocolate.

Now that I know the trick, each time I open a can of chickpea I have a recurrent question now: should I leave or keep the aquafaba to make a chocolate mousse? The temptation of the chocolate mousse is always so strong that it almost becomes dangerous to me! Not to mention that every single time, I love the process of turning the liquid into this white fluffy foam – and David is the same. The good news here is that you can also use aquafaba in over recipes, even savory (for instance, I recently shared the recipe of a vegan aioli made out of aquafaba and it was just amazing).

For the chocolate mousse here, all you need to do is to melt the chocolate separately, and then fold in into the whipped aquafaba, exactly as you would do with egg whites. I added some grated tonka bean here, that enhances the chocolate taste and bring some delicious warm notes of caramel and vanilla to the dessert, but if you don’t have tonka beans at hands, you can definitely do without.

I then topped the chocolate mousse with a vegan chantilly made out of a whipped coconut cream, or to be more specific, out of the solid part of a very cold coconut milk can. I recommend here to place the coconut milk can in the refrigerator overnight before using it (or at least a couple of hours), in order to separate the solid from the liquid part. You need here to extract the solid part only, that you then beat with a hand mixer until it becomes creamy. Just spoon it on top of the chocolate mousse or use a piping bag to make fancy shapes.

Serve your vegan chocolate mousse with a whipped coconut cream for your loved one or for your guests and don’t mention how it is made. Observe their reactions and see who guess there are no eggs but chickpea liquid instead. I guarantee they won’t be so many to guess – unless you’re vegan yourself and they know it. Oh, and by the way it’s Valentine’s Day today, and in case you didn’t have any ideas, it would make a perfect quick dessert to enjoy with your Valentine tonight!

Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Whipped Coconut Cream (… made with aquafaba!)

• 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
• Leave a Review

Print

Pin

• Author: Delphine Fortin
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Desserts
• Cuisine: Vegan

Dear fellow chocolate lovers, here’s a delicious chocolate mousse made with a magic ingredient, and topped with a whipped coconut cream. I made it in a vegan version, so it’s also egg-free and dairy-free!

Email me this recipe

We’ll send it straight to your inbox, along with weekly food inspiration!

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the chocolate mousse:

• 3/4 cup (170g) dark chocolate
• 1 Tablespoon almond milk
• 1 Tablespoon agave or maple syrup
• 1/2 tonka bean, grated (optional)
• Liquid from 1 can of chickpeas (i.e. the drained juice of a 400g/15 oz can of chickpeas)

For the whipped coconut cream:

• 1 can of full fat coconut milk, very cold*
• 2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. For the chocolate mousse: melt the chocolate with the almond milk in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water (or in the microwave), until smooth. Add the agave syrup and the grated tonka bean (optional). Let cool for a few minutes before using.
2. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, whisk the liquid of chickpeas until stiff peaks form. You should have a fluffy white consistency as for egg whites (it’s magic!).
3. Gently fold in the chocolate with a spatula, and stir slowly until totally combined.
4. For the whipped coconut cream: carefully spoon out the top layer of opaque white stuff that has gathered at the top of the coconut milk can (don’t use the liquid part). Place into a mixing bowl.
5. With an hand mixer, whip the coconut milk with the confectioners sugar until creamy. Start on low on move to a higher speed.
6. Transfer into a piping bag and pipe onto each chocolate mousse bowls.
7. Place in the refrigerator until serving. When ready to serve, decorate with slivered almonds and/or pistachios.

Notes

* If possible, place the coconut milk can in the refrigerator overnight before using it.

Chickpeas, Chocolate, Chocolate Desserts, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, No-Bake, Vegan, Year Round

Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Whipped Coconut Cream (… made with aquafaba!), be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!