Luxurious Aquafaba Chocolate Mousse

Aquafaba doesn’t just make fabulous vegan meringues, it also makes the perfect base for a light, airy, vegan chocolate mousse! 

Luxurious vegan aquafaba chocolate mousse

Serves: 4 | Prep time: 25 minutes | Chilling time: 2 hours

Ingredients

For the aquafaba:

• Water from 2 cans chickpeas (about 350ml), strained into a saucepan
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 4 Tbsp caster sugar

For the chocolate mix:

• 150g dark dairy-free chocolate, melted
• 50g vegan margarine, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp caster sugar.

Method

1. First you want to reduce your chickpea water by one third. Bring the water to the boil in the saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes until you can see that it has reduced in volume by approximately one third (you can do this more accurately by measuring before and after cooking in a measuring jug – you’ll want to lose about 100ml). Allow the water to cool completely. I do this by pouring it into a jug and then putting the jug on iced water to speed up the process. Once it is cool you can begin making your aquafaba.
2. Pour the chickpea water into a clean mixing bowl (make sure it is free of any grease) and add the cream of tartar.
3. Put your electric whisk on a medium setting and begin whisking the water. Do this for about 4 minutes. The water will first become foamy and then start to whiten and thicken. You need to be patient here if you haven’t done it before, but it will gradually happen.
4. The aquafaba should now be at the soft peak stage, where the peaks you make sink back a little. Now turn the electric whisk up a bit and beat for another 3 minutes, until the peaks are stiffer. At this stage add your sugar and whisk for another 3-5 minutes to get to the stiff peak stage. Peaks will stay where they are, and you’ll be able to turn the bowl upside down without any movement from the aquafaba. Remove the whisk and set aside.
5. During the whisking process melt your chocolate and margarine so that they are cooled slightly by the time the aquafaba is ready.
6. Mix the chocolate, margarine, sugar and vanilla together until you have a smooth consistency.
7. Now add, a spoonful at a time, one third of the aquafaba to the chocolate mix. Stir until you get a smooth, loose blend.
8. Once this is done, pour the mixture into the remaining aquafaba and fold gently using a large spoon or spatula, until you have a light chocolate foam. Spoon this into your serving dishes and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
9. To serve, dust with cocoa powder and garnish with a sprig of mint.