Mousse au Chocolat 🍫

This chocolate mousse is the exact replica of the authentic French Mousse au Chocolat. With its chocolatey richness and fluffiness, it will surely not disappoint you, but on the contrary greatly impress your dinner guests! (they won’t ever guess the magic ingredient ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (150ml) aquafaba (chickpea brine) *see note*
• 150g dark chocolate (70% +)
• 1 tsp lemon juice/ vinegar
• 1 tbsp of plant milk (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/2 tsp sea salt *see note*

Garnish (optional)

• 1 tbsp chocolate shavings/ cacao nibs
• 1 handful of chopped pistachios
• 1 handful of shredded coconut 

Procedure:

1- First off, break down your chocolate in to chunks, and place into a large glass bowl together with your plant milk (optional).

2- Place the bowl over a water bath and allow the mixture to heat up very slowly (your heat should be on minimum temp). Refrain from mixing unless the chocolate is near to completely melted. Now, whisk mixture gently and allow to cool by removing it from heat. 

3- Into a clean stand mixer (see note*), place your aquafaba along with your chosen acid* (lemon juice or vinegar).

4- Now, whip the mixture into stiff peaks* 

6- Once your chocolate has cooled down completely (it should not be warm to the touch- as this will cause your mixture to perish), add in your vanilla extract and salt. 

7- Now (little by little) gently fold in your fluffed aquafaba into the chocolate mixture  with the use of a spatula (don’t worry if it slightly deflates as you do so)

8- When mixed thoroughly, divide mixture into ramequins (small bowls/ glasses) and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (the longer the better- overnight is great)

9- Once set (or the next day), top these with your garnish of choice or simply enjoy them as they are! 

NOTES*

1- ‘aquafaba’ means ‘bean water’ (in this case, chickpea brine)

2- if using the brine from a chickpea can, make sure that it contains no salt (or little)

• If making your own, here is a tutorial

3- if using canned chickpeas which already contain salt, don’t add any more. 

4- you’ll want your stand-mixer and whisk to be completely free of any grease, considering that this will prevent the brine from reaching adequate consistency

5- while the acid could be omitted, this will speed up the process and stabilize the foam. 

6- you can check this by flipping the bowl with whipped aquafaba- If some slides down even a  bit, you are not there yet -keep on whipping until it is stable (this could take up to 15 minutes)