Rather than buy fruity mousse in supermarkets (often made with factory-farmed animal ingredients, palm oil and refined sugar – packed in plastic), have a go at making your own. Fruit mousse is usually really easy to make, and only takes a few minutes. Vegan Pumpkin Mousse (Crowded Kitchen) is served with maple nut brittle, and vegan whipped cream.
Keep these puddings away from pets, due to ingredients like coffee and nuts (never use sweetener xylitol near pets either). Avoid caffeine for pregnancy/nursing and avoid chia seeds for children and people with swallowing difficulties (always mix with water before use).
Coffee Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse (Carlo Cao) is a recipe by a talented Swiss-Italian chef. Creamy and crunchy, what better way to take your espresso?
5 Ingredient Orange Brandy Chocolate Mousse (So Vegan) uses silken tofu as the secret ingredient for a creamy protein-rich dessert. The dark chocolate is blended with maple syrup to sweeten, brandy and unwaxed oranges, plus there is more dark chocolate to decorate, and salt to taste.
Oat Milk Chocolate Mousse (Nourish Magazine) uses Lindt oat milk chocolate as an easy base, sweetened with agave syrup.
Tofu Chocolate Mousse (Veggie Desserts) is a good starter recipe, if you’ve got a block of tofu and have no idea what to do with it.
This vegan chocolate mousse pie (Minimalist Baker) is way better than store-bought choccy desserts, and pretty healthy too. It’s also a good pie to try out tofu (what did you say?!) as it shows how the neutral flavour can absorb other tastes. Keep this pie away from pets, due to chocolate and other toxic ingredients.
Once you know how to make the simple 5-ingredient base (pecans, cocoa powder, sea salt, nut butter and dates) it can form the base for all kind of pie delights, and vegan cheescakes. The silken tofu filling is sweetened with vanilla and dairy-free chocolate chips. Serve with caramel sauce and coconut whip (just chill tins of Biona coconut milk overnight, pour off the water to use in smoothies and whizz up the ‘cream’ with a little sugar’).
Dairy-free chocolate chips are easy to find (Moo Free is a good brand) though you’ll have to recycle the packaging. The other option is to just smash up a good bar of vegan chocolate, and make your own – it all melts into the pie filling anyway! Always choose Fair Trade chocolate, as cocoa farmers are some of the lowest-paid in the world – look for the vegan versions of Tony’s Chocolonely, which is on a mission to eliminate slavery in the chocolate-producing world.
