Here comes the most innovative and genius dessert recipe I’ve ever published on my blog. A delicious and easy chocolate mousse (mousse au chocolate), that consists of just 2 ingredients.
If you love a deep chocolate flavor, then this fluffy and creamy mousse is for you. On top of that this luscious treat is quick, clean and even perfect for weight management.
While I’m sure that you can guess the first ingredient - dark chocolate - few of you might know the second one: Aquafaba.
Maybe you think, hey Gabi, you promised us not to use any exotic and expensive ingredients in your clean eating recipes…
And yes, I’m keeping my promise!
Most of you have “aquafaba” in their pantry without knowing it. It is in fact a waste product, something you usually throw away. But in future you might think twice?!
What is Aquafaba
Aquafaba is another word for “chickpea water”. “Aqua” is the Latin word for water and “faba” the Latin meaning for beans. My daughter mentioned to me chickpea brine as a trending egg white replacement in vegan circles - over a year ago. But I somehow couldn’t believe it until last week, when I experimented with it for the first time.
When I tell you that I’m thrilled, I’m still understating. I’m really excited to share my findings with you. For the skeptics amongst you, no, the liquid does NOT taste of chickpeas at all, if this is your worry. Once beaten, it’s similar neutral in taste as white egg.
Easy chocolate mousse with whole-food egg replacement
Aquafaba is a simple, whole-food approach to egg whites that tastes better and performs more reliably than any commercial available egg replacer. This is important to know also for all those people who can’t eat eggs. As you can see with this recipe it can even mimic the consistency of dairy. You’ll learn more about aquafaba’s history at the end of this blog post.
I’ve made this easy chocolate mousse already three times. To my pleasure it works even with red kidney beans water. While soaking legumes, like beans, lentils or chickpeas some of the protein, starches, B-vitamins, zinc, and iron leach into the liquid. The result is a nutrient-rich water that can be used for thickening, emulsifying, gelatinizing and foaming dishes.
My hubby is convinced
My chocoholic hubby is of course also a huge chocolate mousse connoisseur and described it as “heaven on the spoon”. When he tried it, he first thought, that it’s an indulgent chocolate mousse and couldn’t get enough of it.
Did I mention, that I’m massively obsessed with aquafaba and, that I can’t wait to test out more creative recipes with this miracle fluid. But for this week I have to stop creating these fascinating clean eating desserts and use up the chickpeas and beans that are waiting in my fridge;)
Classic way to make chocolate mousse
Before I jump into the easy chocolate mousse recipe let me just tell you how complicated a classic chocolate mousse recipe usually is. Most authentic French recipes call for at least 5 ingredients: dark chocolate, eggs, heavy cream, butter and sugar. Now I ask you, how clean and lean is that? Not to forget the complicated directions without success guarantee.
I can imagine that you cant’ wait to try this simple dessert recipe too. Enjoy!
- 3.5oz./100 gr. dark (70% cocoa) chocolate (in broken chunks)
- 4.2 oz./120 ml aquafaba (liquid of 15 oz. can of chickpeas)
- Make sure to use BPA free canned chickpeas.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (hand mixer may also be used) beat aquafaba on high until forthy. It should have a fluffy white consistency. In my case it takes around 3 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl placed over a saucepan or pot of boiling water. Stir as chocolate is melting.
- Remove from heat when melted to cool slightly.
- Combine chocolate mixture into the bowl with the aquafaba mixture and gently blend together completely. Try not to over-mix.
- Fill glasses with chocolate mousse and refrigerate one hour. You can also fill it in a glass container, set it in the fridge and arrange spooned mousse later on plates.
- Garnish it with ground cherry (see photo), star fruits or kiwi slices.
- To accelerate the process you can also freeze the glass container for 30 minutes maximum and then arrange a dessert plate.
Who invented aquafaba
Who ever was the first to beat a waste product and use it as replacement for beaten egg whites deserves the Nobel price in chemistry - in my humble opinion;)
The first beaten egg white replacements were probably made in wartime around 1900, based on the cooking water of legumes.
Kickstarter for the huge aquafaba hype was Goose Wohlt, an American software engineer and food blogger. In 2015 he shared his post on how to make vegan meringues based on chickpea brine on Facebook. He is also the one who gave the chickpea liquid the “aquafaba” name. The rest is history.
Janice says
Mine turns out too grainy… what could I be doing wrong?
Hey Janice,
often Chocolate is a bugger…
I have found it is absolutely dependent on temperature. Maybe keep both at the same temperature when combining (the temp the chocolate is fluid that is. Adding cold ingredients will cause chocolate to cool too quickly and solidify. It’s also important to use dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa. I hope it helps:)