Aquafaba?! What the hell is that?
Yup that was my first thought too when I heard about people making meringues and other delectable treats with this stuff. I researched it and found out that Aquafaba is in actual fact the water that is found in a tin of chickpeas AND when whisked, it mimics the same consistency as egg whites so it can make things like meringues, marshmallows and mousse without the need for eggs or cream! I don't know about you but I was pretty blown away by this haha
I am not vegan - nor do I pretend to be - but I love trying to recreate some of my favorite treats without the use of animal products. I don't believe that our bodies are meant to consume tons of cream, dairy, eggs and other animal products especially with all the hormones and other nasty additives they like to pump into these products.
So I decided to accept the challenge and get to work to recreate a vegan chocolate mousse! I will admit that I was up for a big challenge because I don't have an electric beater which meant that:
Trial 1: It flopped because I didn't beat the aquafaba enough which means that it didn't set properly in the fridge. Instead it was like a watery mess!!
Trial 2: I didn't fold the aquafaba properly with the chocolate so lets just say - all the air left the building!
And finally! Trial 3 worked like a charm!!
If you have an electric beater then please do yourself (and your arms) a favor and use that instead. If you are like me and don't have one, well be prepared to have arms of steel after this recipe is complete haha :)
The result?
When I told my boyfriend what I used to make this mousse, he looked at it hesitantly. "You mean to tell me that you used that chickpea water goo in your recipe?" Yup. I did. After some persuading he tasted it and so did I and we were both blown away by how amazing it tasted! I won't lie - I was also concerned about how it would taste but honestly it was so delicious! The consistency was spot on - light and super fluffy, the taste was chocolatey and minty (I added in peppermint essence) and it was super easy to make.
Give it a try and I promise you will enjoy it too :P
Aquafaba Chocolate Mousse
Makes 4
Ingredients
1 cup aquafaba (depends on how much liquid is in the tin but I used about 1 and a half tins of Chickpea water)*
140g chocolate of choice (I used 80% dark chocolate)
2 Tbsp honey/syrup/nectar **
Optional: 1 1/2 tsp peppermint essence***
Optional: 1/4 tsp salt (I didn't use any because I didn't have haha)
Garnishing
Crushed almonds/nuts of choice
Crushed chocolate
Berries
Chocolate sauce
Method
1. Place a pot/bowl over another pot of water. You want to make sure that your stove is on a low temperature so that the chocolate doesn't burn.
2. Add you chocolate and stir constantly until it is fully melted.
3. Once melted, lower the stove temperature even more and add your liquid sweetener/ essence /salt (if you are using any). Stir until fully combined.
4. Once stirred, take your chocolate mixture off the stove and let to cool.
5. While your chocolate is cooling off, open your chickpea tins and drain with a sieve (making sure you keep all the liquid). Measure out 1 cup of aquafaba.
6. Place your aquafaba into a bowl and using an electric beater/hand whisk, whisk until it reaches a soft peak stage. You cannot over beat aquafaba so don't worry about whisking it too much. You need to make sure that you get to the right consistency otherwise the recipe will not work. I whisked it for about 15/20 minutes by hand. ****
7. Using a spatula, combine the chocolate mixture (make sure it's not hot to the touch) to the aquafaba. Fold it together until it is combined properly. Try not to over mix it.
8. Once combined, pour into your ramekin moulds/glasses and place into the fringe.
9. It should be set after 45minutes but I left mine over night for a firmer consistency.
10. Once set, remove from the fridge, garnish with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
*Please make sure that you get chickpeas that do not contain any added sugar or other additives
** Please use a liquid sweetener as if you use sugar then your mousse will come out too grainy
*** I like minty chocolate but you can substitute this for vanilla extract, almond essence, orange essence or anything your heart desires
**** Soft peak stage means that once you pick up your whisk, the fluffy mixture will travel up with your whisk before it drops down. It will not drop down immediately.
