Hello Lovelies, today I would like to share our favorite dessert with you: a chocolate orange mousse made with aquafaba (mousse au chocolat, but vegan!). Some of you might be wondering, okay that's not really vegan - BUT the recipe I'm sharing with you today is. It's delicious, super easy to make and has a surprising ingredient. The "secret" ingredient (which is not so secret in the vegan world anymore, but still with non-vegans) is something you might have discarded a lot without even noticing how precious it is: it's Aquafaba - the thick brine in which chickpeas or beans are cooked. You can use it like egg white and it's beatable. I always use the Aquafaba from chickpeas (the ones that come cooked in a jar, I don't make it on my own, but you could if you want) and that one works perfectly. I'm always in awe how amazing it is and also wonder how someone must have discovered it (a toast for him or her!!).
But now lets talk about the chocolate mousse. Since we often use chickpeas in all kind of recipes, we often have aquafaba at hand and make it into the mousse most of the time, but also use it for pancakes, waffles or meringue, all of that is possible. The mousse doesn't have many ingredients and don't be afraid it doesn't taste of chickpeas. We love it with fresh orange zest, but you could do it without as well.
That's how your Aquafaba should look like after you beat it - really fluffy with peaks, just the same as egg white. Depending on what kitchen tool you use it can take longer (5-10 minutes at least), but patience will be rewarded, since the longer you beat it, the better the mousse will turn out!
You can use the mousse for a layered dessert as well, on the right picture I added some coconut whipped cream and rhubarb ginger compote for example. You can add as much orange zest as you like, depending how strong you wish the flavor to be. If you have some easter bunnies to use up or want to use a different kind of chocolate which naturally has more sugar, than I would maybe reduce the amount of sugar used (but I never tried it, I always use dark chocolate and the kids love it).
I can't leave you without proofing how fluffy and airy the mousse will be - look at those pictures, I hope that's convincing enough. And you don't have to worry about raw eggs in your dessert. Aquafaba is also low in calories (okay the chocolate maybe not, but we want it to be a treat, right?). I will also show you some easy but delicious recipe with chickpeas soon, so you will have lots of reasons to make this mousse!
I would be so happy if many of you try this amazing dessert and all experience the "wonder" of Aquafaba. I think it really is a great alternative to eggs and how amazing it is that you can turn something that would be waste into a scrumptious dessert! And if you make it don't tell anyone about the secret ingredient and let them guess, always works with my guests and everyone is totally surprised. And I never had one person that didn't like it.
If you love this chocolate orange mousse, my sweet kitchen has a few relatives waiting for you: I use the very same airy mixture for my chocolate brownies with an orange chocolate mousse, it turns fresh and fruity with my orange cream with silken tofu, and for the festive season I adore my vegan gingerbread mousse with cherries. I can't wait to hear which one you try first!
Oh and by the way, I'm of course not the first blogger that made an Aquafaba Mousse, check out the recipe by my blogger friend Lara as well, she uses only 3 ingredients to make it: http://vanillacrunnch.com/aquafaba-chocolate-mousse-3-ingredients-vegan-and-glutenfree/
If you have Pinterest, you can find me here and pin this picture if you like:
