The softest and fluffiest mousse made with only 2 basic ingredients + a luscious caramel made with dates and dark brown sugar. Decadent, definitely. Edible joy, really.
This mousse recipe is straightforward to make, but I feel like it lacks popularity. I've seen it on Food52 long ago and made it regularly since, along with the avocado version. The *Aqauafaba or tofu ones are good too, but I prefer these two as they are much quicker to make and fix a decadent dessert in no time.
I also prefer making this by using a good quality dark chocolate (instead of cocoa powder) which gives an intense chocolate flavor to the mousse. I don't use any extra sweetener simply because the chocolate itself is sweet enough. The mousse should also be slightly bitter so it will nicely pair with the super sweet & salted caramel.
Regarding the caramel, this alone is worth making!
It's a staple in my kitchen and I used it (in various versions of it) throughout my whole culinary work. It's luscious, rich, shiny, incredibly close to real caramel and it's half made with dates. You can use it on cakes or ice cream and you can adjust its viscosity by simply reducing or increasing the milk ratio at the end.
The only thing you'll need for this one is a high-speed blender.
*Aquafaba is the viscous water in which legume seeds such as chickpeas have been cooked. Due to its ability to mimic the functional properties of egg whites in cooking, aquafaba can be used as a direct replacement for them in some cases, including meringues and marshmallows. (Source Wikipedia)
Salted Caramel & Chocolate Mousse Pots
Plant-based, Nut-free, Gluten-Free, Soy-free
Makes 3
Total time: 40 minutes
Salted caramel
75 g soft dates/ Medjool dates
45 g dark brown sugar
1 tbsp honey (or use agave syrup to make it vegan)
big pinch of sea salt (I added ± 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp lucuma powder
3 tbsp + 4 tbsp coconut milk/full-fat coconut milk
1 tbsp virgin coconut oil
Chocolate mousse
130 g full fat coconut milk
90 g dark chocolate
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder / powdered bourbon vanilla sugar
pinch of sea salt
70 g full-fat coconut milk, for whipping (extra: 1 tsp powdered sugar & juice from 1/4 lemon)
shredded chocolate
Instructions:
To make the salted caramel, place dates, dark sugar, honey, salt, lucuma, coconut oil, and 3 tsp of coconut milk into a high-speed blender. Blend 2 times to get a very fine paste. Add the remaining 4 tbsp of milk and adjust its viscosity. If you want it runnier, add more milk.
Whip the 70 g of full-fat coconut milk and add powdered sugar if you want to make it sweeter, and juice from 1/4 lemon. Keep refrigerated.
Now make the chocolate mousse by melting the chocolate on bain-marie.
Meanwhile, whisk the full-fat coconut milk with salt to make it airy, but don't turn it into whipped cream.
Pour the melted chocolate into the whisked milk and mix to incorporate the chocolate.
Divide in 3 and place into serving glasses or pots. Add a generous layer of salted caramel and top with coconut whipped cream and garnish with shredded chocolate. Enjoy!
