The other day when I heard about a ‘healthy plum’ cake sans eggs, flour or rum and I rolled my eyes in disbelief. Whatever happened to the holiday spirit? Must we always keep counting calories and make a joke out of traditional delicacies. It was only when I read the recipe that it began to make sense to me. If substituting tamarind for lemon juice, eggs for curd is fine for everyday cooking and baking, then why are we so rigid about the traditional recipes? By swapping ingredients to suit your requirements, you make that recipe your own. And this is how recipes survive the test of time.
With the rise in popularity of veganism across the globe, it is not uncommon to spot vegan versions of your favourite desserts in restaurants and cafes. Veganism, is a lifestyle that encourages abstaining from all animal products, be it in food or cosmetics. Therefore, in Vegan desserts, you wouldn’t find an iota of egg, or milk for that matter. Now, one can still imagine a dessert without eggs, but without milk? That may seem to be a little bit of a stretch. Well, not really, if you know of the right recipe. Something like this Vegan chocolate mousse by Ms. Pariksha Rao, Senior Clinical Nutritionist & Wellness coach.
This simple, fuss-free recipe is ideal for the Holiday season. I mean, there’s chocolate. How can you go wrong with it? We particularly love the ripeness avocado brings to the dessert. When you blend it, make sure there are no big chunks of avocado left, else they may hinder the smooth, silky texture of the mousse. If you still find chunks in your mousse, you can strain through fine sieve, Pariksha says.
Without further ado, here’s a Vegan Chocolate Mousse recipe that serves two.
Ingredients:
- Well ripe avocado – 1 medium to big
- Coconut crème or coconut yoghurt- 1 cup
- Unsweetened cocoa powder- 2 tbsp
- Vegan chocolate- 15 to 20g
- Date syrup- 1 tbsp
- Natural vanilla essence- 2 drops
Method
1. Peel and deseed the avocado.
2. In a high-speed blender add avocado, coconut yoghurt, unsweetened cocoa powder, date syrup and vanilla essence.
3. Blend it well till there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth and silky.
4. Now add melted vegan chocolate and blend it on low speed for 10 seconds only.
5. Pour the mousse in dessert jars or small glasses and garnish with some vegan chocolate shavings.
6. Let it chill for 2 to 3 hours before serving for best results.
7· You can always replace the coconut crème with regular crème and vegan chocolate with regular dark or milk chocolate if you are not a fan of vegan desserts.
8· If you do not like date syrup, you can add honey or even maple syrup or just any chocolate syrup. If you use chocolate syrup, do not forget to reduce the cocoa powder from 2 tbsp to 1 tbsp.
9· Feel free to add some chopped strawberries or blueberries or roasted almond shavings on top. Gives a good blend of texture and flavour.