About a week ago, I was having dinner with my family when my daughter shared a conversation that she had with one of her friends about my food blogging that was spot on. We laughed until tears streamed down our cheeks. It was a moment that still makes me laugh. Because when you explain this recipe, and well, maybe a few of my others, it fits into the category of intriguing and bizarre (and down right delicious!).
Now is when I introduce you to our adventure ingredient and we begin our discussion about acquafaba or bean water. >Let’s allow that to soak in for a moment for maximum impact<. Yes, the genesis of this discussion – pre laughing/crying hysteria – is that I made an amazing chocolate dessert with bean juice. >boom<
Fast forward to when my daughter explained my latest creation to her friend Alex, who remained unfazed and said, “I think your mom is a food hippie.” I’ve got to confess, I’ve never thought about my passion for food in that way, but I think she is right. If I were to define the genre of my recipe development it would be just this- I love the idea of taking classic recipes and making them less conventional, healthier, and using all of those holistic items that hippies would embrace in the kitchen. Alex, thank you for helping me define my brand of crazy!
Of course, I can’t take full credit, as this recipe for vegan chocolate mousse was adapted from the Thrive Market recipe; this mousse is truly wonderful- undeniably weird, but it works and is delicious. I am amazed at how quickly this dessert can be pulled together and even more in awe at how the bean liquid mimics egg whites. While this mousse is delicious on its own, it is off the charts with toppings. And since I always like to be in command of the salt component in my recipes, if you are using canned or jarred chickpeas, I recommend looking for organic with sea salt or low sodium and you can add in your own salt.
Back to how amazing this ‘water’ is. Whipped acquafaba is a hidden vegan treasure that can be used with bitters in vegan whiskey sours and meringues and even mayonnaise. To make this Chocolate Coconut Mousse dairy free, extra dark chocolate can be used in place of semi-sweet chocolate and/or replaced with vegan chocolate chips.
Acquafaba (Latin for ‘bean liquid’) Chocolate Coffee Coconut Mousse
Ingredients
1 (15 oz can) unsalted chickpeas, liquid
¼ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp Koloa coconut rum (can replace with coconut extract)
1 tsp Crème de Cacao (can substitute vanilla or coconut extract)
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
Optional Toppings
dulce de leche sauce
chocolate shavings
fresh fruit or tea soaked blood oranges
crushed almonds, pecans or walnuts
Directions
Drain chickpeas and set aside, reserving the 3/4 cup of liquid/acquafaba for this recipe. Using a stand mixer, combine chickpea liquid, cream of tartar, sea salt, rum and crème de cacao. Beat on high until soft peaks form, similar to meringue.
In a microwave safe bowl, or double boiler, melt the chocolate. Stir chocolate at regular intervals to ensure that does not burn. Transfer chocolate into a large bowl and stir to cool slightly. Gently fold in 1/3 of whipped mixture into chocolate until well combined. Repeat two more times with the remaining 2/3 of whipped mixture until it has been well combined. Transfer into 4 ramekins or serving glasses. Cover and allow to chill for 2 hours.
Serve with toppings of your choice.
