Friday, September 9, 2011

Vegan chocolate mousse, 2 ways

One of the features in my 5 Things I Want To Make post was vegan chocolate mousse.

As I noted then, there are lots of recipes out there for vegan chocolate pudding. However, they are mostly pudding-like: dense, smooth, and thick. I wanted to create something mousse-like - fluffy, aeroated, and light.

After trawling through various recipes, deciding against tofu (I didn't think it would fluff, and I would prefer to keep it for savoury dishes), and pondering the similarities and differences of agar, Cream of Tartar, guar gum, and pectin, I just went ahead and jumped in to experiment.

It's always fun.
 
Often it's messy.
 
In this case, I think it was worth the effort.

Let me present...


Vegan chocolate mousse, two ways.

Veganised chocolate mousse

Loosely based on two chocolate mousse recipes that didn't contain cream
Serves 2 - 3. Or 1.


Ingredients
  • 50g dark or dairy free chocolate (I used 50% cocoa)
  • 1/2 tbsp agar, dissolved in 1/4 cup of boiling water
  • Egg replacer to the equivalent of 3 egg whites, made up with water according to instructions (see note)
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar


Note. I used Orgran egg replacer, which includes instructions for making up the equivalent of 3 egg whites: 2 tsp to 1 tbsp water.




Instructions

1. Dissolve the agar in the boiling water and set aside to cool slightly.

2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water, until smooth.

3. Meanwhile, combine the egg replacer (made up with water as per directions) and sugar in a medium heat-proof bowl. Ideally, the bowl should be narrow with high sides.

4. Beat the egg replacer and sugar on medium - high speed for 2 minutes, until well-combined and slightly frothy.



5. Add the Cream of Tartar to the egg mixture and beat for a further minute.

6. Add the dissolved agar (which will still be warm) to the egg mixture gradually, beating as you do so. Beat on medium speed for a further two minutes, until the mixture has thickened and is fluffy.

7. Gently fold ~1/2 of the egg mixture into the melted chocolate. Mix through carefully, avoiding over-mixing. Fold in the remaining egg mixture.

8. Set in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Pre-setting, it was hard to get a sense of how this would turn out.

Post-setting?


I think it worked ok.

The texture of this wasn't quite the same as non-vegan mousse, or at least the varieties I remember. It was darker chocolate, for a start, and thus seemed richer. The texture was also slightly grainier, although it did have the aerated mousse feel.




I wasn't done there though. For comparison, I wanted to try a chocolate avocado mousse. This was really just chocolate avocado pudding with a few modifications, and well whipped. I wanted to see what avocado would do if I took to it with egg beaters for some minutes.

Chocolate avocado mousse

Adapted from Oh She Glows, although there are lots of versions around the place.
Serves 2 - 3



Ingredients
  • 2 small avocados
  • 1/4 cup agave (or honey)
  • 1/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Pinch salt




Instructions
  
1. Peel the avocados and beat on medium - high speed for 1 - 2 minutes, until well-mixed and creamy.

2. Add the agave, cocoa, vanilla and salt and whip for a further 2 minutes.

3. Chill before serving.


Spot the avocado fleck! Clearly I should have beaten just one little bit more...

The texture of this wasn't, if I'm honest, quite mousse. I didn't really think avocado would manage fluffy and airy, and I was right. However, it was incredibly delicious.

As in seriously, amazingly delicious. And I don't even like avocado (normally!).

When I fed Mr Bite a spoonful pre-refrigerating, I asked him to guess what was in it.

Cocoa? (Yes)

Cream? (No)

Milk? (No)

Sugar? (No)

Given the ingredients, I'm not sure it should taste as good as it does. But it does. 

My verdict?

I was happy with how the veganised chocolate mousse turned out, and it's nice to think that there are animal free alternatives to eggs and gelatin. I think that mousse is very dependent on the chocolate you use, as the main flavouring comes from that - so next time I would probably use Lindt instead of Whittakers, just to make it that little bit better. I wouldn't (personally) want more than 50% cocoa, as I think it would be too much.


Contrary to my expectations, though, I actually preferred the chocolate avocado mousse overall. The flavours were smoother, and the ease of preparation and 'real food' ingredient list won me over.

Are you a mousse fan? Have you experimented with vegan versions?

18 comments:

  1. Hi Kari,
    Love the choc avocado mousse - it's amazing that you cannot taste the avocado and I like the lack of sugar and cream as well. Those good fats fill you up quickly!

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  2. Have always thought that avocado in a mousse sounded interesting and yours looks delicious.

    I have found that silken tofu can give sweet things a great texture. Though I haven't made it yet, The Joy of Vegan Baking has a Chocolate Mousse recipe using tofu and the photo looks pretty tempting.

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  3. Oooh, I'm going to have to try that avo choc mousse! I've only ever made traditional choc mousse - delicious, but very heavily laden with sugar and bad fats. Sounds like you're onto a winner!

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  4. Thanks for the reviews! I've been curious about the different versions of chocolate mousse, vegan in particular because it's so different!

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  5. I've had bad experiences with agar but have long wanted to try the chocolate and avocado combination so am glad you loved it

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  6. @Liz@LastChanceTraining
    They really do - but happily, in a comfortable rather than uncomfortable way :)

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  7. @Mel
    Oh! Thank you! I will have to look that recipe up - and possibly revise my thoughts on tofu.

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  8. @Brooke
    I can certainly see myself making it again, and again. The simplicity helps too!

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  9. @spinachandspice
    I'm sure there are many other options too...the more I experiment with vegan options the more I discover how many options there are!

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  10. @Johanna GGG
    Do try it! It's definitely worthwhile :)

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  11. I've seen the avocado recipe a few times and wondered what it tasted like. I don't do mousse usually because of the raw egg factor, but have tried the olive oil version before (with cream though) rich, very rich!

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  12. Teehee, by the time I get around to posting chocolate avocado mousse, everyone who asked me to do so is going to have already made it themselves! :P Isn't it fantastic?!

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  13. @cityhippyfarmgirl
    The avocado version is pretty rich too - but at least there are no egg fears :)

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  14. We had a good chocolate mousse once when I was visiting Andy's parents. It was a packet mix, so it wasn't anything too flash, but it was fluffy. We have never made any fluffy mousse ourselves, because we don't have electric mixers and I don't have the stamina to whisk by hand!

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  15. what a fun experiment! I have made an avocado choc mousse before and no-one in the family guessed that it contained avocado!

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  16. @Theresa
    Believe me, neither do I! That requires arm power that I do not possess :)

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  17. @Lisa (bakebikeblog)
    I don't think I would have guessed if I didn't know (if that makes any sense at all)...it's really quite a magical food.

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