Man, it was so haaaaard to keep this recipe under wraps! It took a lot of tries to get this puppy just so and once I finally succeeded, I was so excited I wanted to share!! Duncan says I’m like an excitable little bird sometimes, especially when it comes to food discoveries. I’m declining to comment… 😉
So this indecently fluffy peanut butter mousse with creamy chocolate ganache on top was destined to be published later in the year, but there was no way I was gonna wait that long! It owes its fluffiness to my favourite vegan egg replacer – the magical chickpea brine, also known as aquafaba. Now that I’ve done two successful chocolate mousse recipes with it (healthy and less healthy version), I have decided to be more daring when it comes to the flavour profile and see if I can marry it up with peanut butter, which I am obsessed with lately, BTW. I had my work cut out and many failed attempts under my belt, but the end result was well worth the effort, in my opinion! This dessert was, in part, inspired by GU pots, which I used to console myself with when living in London and doing a job I didn’t get on with. Yes, I know that ingesting sinful chocolate desserts on a regular basis wasn’t going to help my job situation, but it sort of made sense at the time… And just like GU pots, this may seem like a small dessert but don’t be fooled, it’s pretty rich so a little goes a long way. The peanut butter layer is peanutty, fluffy and sweet. The ganache that sits on top is creamy and not very sweet (although it does depend on the chocolate brand you use, the Greek brand I use isn’t that sweet), which contrasts nicely with the peanut butter mousse below. And a delicate sprinkling of salt on top complements both very well and adds yet another flavour dimension. If you don’t want to use a chocolate bar, you can also make a ganache from raw cacao powder and coconut oil and sweeten it to taste. I recommend leaving it fairy savoury. Whatever you do, just make this mousse!
80 g / 2.75 oz vegan dark (70%) chocolate 100 ml / 7 tbsp plant milk coarsely ground sea salt, to decorate
REFINED SUGAR-FREE GANACHE (optional)
60 ml / ¼ cup mild coconut oil 30-45 ml / 2-3 tbsp maple syrup (adjust to taste) 20 g / scant ¼ cup raw cacao powder 45 ml / 3 tbsp almond milk (any thin plant milk) coarsely ground sea salt, to decorate
