Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Today I had a very happy accident! I started to make my green chocolate smoothie for the kids for morning tea, but decided to change it around a bit (as I do), but before I could add the water, THIS happened...

 

Creamy, chocolate deliciousness! How? What?? I couldn't believe it! I grabbed a spoon out of the drawer and popped some into my mouth, and started to squeal and do happy dances all over the kitchen... it's amazing!!!

 

It's like chocolate cream only creamier. It's a mixture between a mousse and a semifreddo. The flavour actually reminds me of the Milo ice-cream I loved as a kid, only better! (Did you love that too?) So don't be put off by the quirky ingredients and lack of sugar - even the fussiest will love this one... unless they find out it has avocado in it - shhhh. ;-) And no, it's not just the usual vegan chocolate mousse made from avocado and cacao powder. You'll see.

 

I made it twice today, because the first time I was just chucking things in willy-nilly, intent only on getting some raw spinach and avocado into my 9 year old, and I didn't really take much notice of how much of everything I used. So when it became the most awesome chocolate concoction ever, I decided I'd better make it again and write down the amounts. So here it is, after much teasing on Facebook and Instragram - my deliciously decadent, sugar free, dairy free, egg free chocolate mousse! (And don't worry, I didn't add the spinach, so it's not as scary as you may have at first supposed.)

 

 

 

 

{P.S. Some would argue that it's not really 'airy' enough to be a 'mousse', and maybe I should have called it a Vegan Semifreddo... but I was in too much of a hurry to eat it to worry about the perfect name. I'm sure you understand.}

 

 

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

 

{Serves 6}

 

1. Grind up the raw cashews in the Thermomix on speed 9 for 10 seconds:

- 150g raw cashews

 

2. Add ice and grind on speed 9 for 20 seconds:

- 350g ice cubes

 

3. Scrape down bowl with spatula; add vanilla, cacao and dates, and grind on speed 9 for 30 seconds:

- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

- 30g raw cacao powder (I used Loving Earth cacao powder & it's very strong - if not using Loving Earth brand, you may need 35g)

- 100g dates (or to taste)

 

(I used regular dates which were semi-frozen, and I think the texture of these contributed to the thickness of the mousse. If you use fresh dates, it may turn out a bit softer, but you can add more ice to thicken it if you need to.)

 

4. The mixture will be a bit lumpy at this stage, especially if you are using dried dates instead of fresh dates. Scrape down the bowl and lid with the spatula, and keep blending on speed 9 until you get a smooth, creamy mixture. It will take at least another minute.

Chocolate mixture after blending, and before adding the avocado

5. Scrape down bowl again, and add avocado. This is actually optional - without the avocado, you'll still have a lovely, thick, chocolate cashew cream as in the photo above. The avocado does make it thicker and creamier though, so don't be afraid to try it!
- flesh of 1 ripe avocado (make sure the avocado is a nice one - no bad spots, or it'll have a slightly bitter taste)

Note: If you find your mousse is not thick enough (it won't stay swirled up into a peak), add another handful of ice and reblend on speed 9 for 1 minute, until smooth.

6. Spoon into small dessert bowls and enjoy! You can freeze this for later - half frozen it tastes like the most divine soft serve ice-cream ever... If you freeze it until it's solid, you'll need to thaw it a bit before using again.