Spiced chocolate mousse with maple walnuts

A creamy, dreamy vegan dessert topped with candied nuts. Oh my, yes please.

This delectable combination of Whittaker’s chocolate, chickpea brine and avocado is so much more delicious than it sounds.

Aquafaba, how many ways can I say l love you? Round two in the aquafaba experiments was an unreserved success. Well sort of. I kept the liquid from the can of black beans I opened for the black bean and quinoa stew, thinking it would work well for chocolate mousse. I understand black bean aquafaba has a stronger beany taste but given that people make chocolate brownie with actual black beans I thought it might add rather than detract from the flavour.

To cut a long story short, the black bean liquid just didn’t foam. I’m more into experiments that succeed rather than fail, so I binned it and started again with fresh chickpea liquid. For the win.

I’m a bit obsessed with Whittaker’s new Kaitaia fire dark chocolate right now. So damn good. Melted and combined with coconut oil, the aquafaba foam, avocado and a little cinnamon, it created a seriously delicious and decadent dessert with a touch of the Mexican about it. The texture of the mousse is creamy and rich, yet quite light and airy.

I’ve got walnuts coming out my ears right now (another recent delivery from the father in law), so I whipped up some maple candied walnuts as a little topping. You know you need to make this.

Spiced chocolate mousse with maple walnuts

A creamy, dreamy vegan dessert topped with candied nuts. Oh my, yes please.

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Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Course: Sweet treats

Cuisine: Vegan

Servings: 4

Author: Quite Good Food

INGREDIENTS

For the mousse:

• Liquid from one can of chickpeas
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• 100 grams good quality dark chocolate (I used Whittaker's Kaitaia fire dark chocolate)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 perfectly ripe avocado
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

For the walnuts:

• cup Approx. 1 of walnuts
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

INSTRUCTIONS

For the mousse:

• Put the liquid from a can of chickpeas into a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer) and beat until thickening and foamy. Gradually add sugar and keep beating until you have a fairly stiff meringue and the sugar is dissolved into the mixture. You could add more sugar if you like it really sweet. I was aiming for the minimum sugar possible without ruining the texture of the aquafaba foam, as just like egg whites it needs a bit of sugar to help it whip into peaks.
• Get out your food processor and put the flesh of an avocado into it.
• Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl over boiling water (careful not to get even a drop of water in it otherwise it'll seize, and that'll make you cry). Stir cinnamon into melted chocolate mixture.
• Tip melted chocolate mixture into the food processor and blend with the avocado until smooth. Scrape this mixture into your aquafaba bowl and gently fold to mix.
• Spoon or pipe mousse mixture into serving bowls, and refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving.

For the walnuts:

• Heat a frypan over a medium to high heat. Add nuts and maple syrup. The syrup will foam up and begin to caramelize. Keep stirring until the syrup has caramelised into a glossy coating on the nuts and is a deep golden colour (don't let it burn!).
• Tip nuts out onto a sheet of baking paper, sprinkle with a little salt and allow to cool.
• Top the mousse with candied nuts and congratulate yourself on creating such a fiendishly delicious dessert.

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