Ho ho ho, welcome to the Christmas weekend! I hope you’ve began to decompress from all of the work stresses and began having fun with the trying ahead to Christmas (for me it’s in all probability the very best half) bit. I’m signing off with a powerful vegan chocolate mousse cake that may make all chocolate lovers, vegan or not, very completely happy certainly. That’s a promise.
This vegan chocolate mousse cake isn’t truly that arduous to make and tastes divine. Should you begin on it tomorrow afternoon, will probably be able to wheel in by Christmas Day or, if you’re a continental like me, begin tonight and watch it getting demolished on Christmas Eve’s. Simple peasy.
This cake is ideal for anybody who’s scared of creating pastry as the bottom of this vegan chocolate mousse cake is a layer of delightfully fudgy and tremendous chocolatey brownies. They arrive collectively actually shortly and aside from folding – combining elements slowly and gently, utilizing a folding movement – no different pastry expertise are wanted right here. The mousse on this vegan chocolate mousse is a bit more superior, however so long as you don’t rush issues and observe my directions, it’s going to come out nicely. I promise.
This cake is decadent, wealthy and tremendous chocolatey and it’ll storm, I’m positive. Whereas I embellished my cake with a cloud of Italian meringue, I’d not advocate doing the identical as this triggered issues, which I didn’t realise till I got here to chop the cake. The moisture within the meringue and the act of torching it with a chef’s torch weakened the mousse and made it unimaginable for me to chop a neat slice 🙁 . As a substitute, I counsel a skinny sprinkling of cocoa powder on high – as is conventional for a tiramisu – and possibly some edible gold mud if you’re feeling additional exuberant.
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
AQUAFABA – that’s proper, right here I’m going once more with my favorite bean juice (I like working with it as might you understand by now). I used canned aquafaba from a can (two cans truly) of Morrisons’ natural chickpeas. There isn’t any particular motive why I selected this model (my favorite is Biona however I can’t get it domestically), I merely reside pretty near Morrisons in order that’s the most suitable choice I had at my disposal. I usually use aquafaba from homecooked chickpeas, however I didn’t have the time to prepare dinner them. Be sure all of your utensils, bowl and fingers are spotlessly clear as aquafaba and grease hate one another like cats and canines (that truly is just not true as exemplified by quite a few ‘my cat and my canine are BBFs’ movies however you understand what I imply 😉 ). To banish grease, use a glass or metallic bowl and wash your whisk attachments in soapy scorching water rigorously.
DARK CHOCOLATE – Each layers of this chocolate themed cake depend on high quality darkish chocolate. I used 72% darkish chocolate and I like to recommend one thing related, 70-74% is okay, any much less and the mousse might not set as firmly as you want to.
COCOA – An excellent brownie advantages from some cocoa powder alongside melted chocolate. I used pure cocoa powder and I’d advocate steering away from Dutch-processed because it doesn’t react with baking soda, which is used on this recipe.
SUGAR – I used two various kinds of sugar on this dessert, however you will get away with one too. For the brownie base, I used a mix of caster (superfine) sugar and darkish muscovado, the primary provides baked items their signature crispy shell and the latter provides depth of flavour and add to the fudginess of the brownie. The mousse half wants caster sugar, also called superfine sugar, because it dissolves simply within the mousse and doesn’t trigger any grittiness. I used it to assist the mousse with its texture and in addition to sweeten it a contact.
VEGAN BUTTER – I used vegan butter each within the base and within the mousse. The rationale for utilizing butter (vegan on this case) in brownies is fairly apparent, however chances are you’ll be questioning why I’d add it to the mousse too. I added it to make the mousse firmer, agency sufficient to chop. It additionally stops the chocolate from seizing as it’s melted alongside the chocolate, in the identical bowl. What you want right here is vegan butter that is available in a block (usually referred to as vegan block, in reality). I used Violife model. You could possibly substitute with coconut oil, I at all times advocate utilizing odourless one to maintain the flavour profile coconut-free.
FLOUR – I used plain flour to make the brownie base, however you may also make this cake gluten-free if wanted. To try this merely use a nicely balanced gluten-free flour combine and a smidge (quarter of a teaspoon) of xanthan gum to assist with binding.
BAKING SODA – A smidge of baking soda is required to provide these brownies a delicate elevate. It comes right into a chemical response with acidic cocoa powder and melted chocolate, which helps to lighten the batter a contact.
Whisk aquafaba in a spotlessly clear bowl till foamy, then add sugar till the combination turns pale (white if solely utilizing caster sugar) and many little bubbles kind – see image on the left. Gently fold in melted chocolate and butter combination.
Fold in all the dry elements till the combination is uniform and no lighter streaks stay. Switch to the ready baking tin, bake and funky down utterly.
Whip aquafaba till stiff (it doesn’t transfer when the bowl is inverted), steadily add sugar and melted chocolate combination. Fold slowly and gently till no streaks stay. Prime chilly brownie base with the mousse combination and refrigerate till set – at the very least in a single day.
- 60 g / ¼ cup aquafaba*
- 125 g / ½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar (I used 50 % caster sugar, 50 % darkish muscovado)
- 50 g / 1.75 oz vegan butter
- 75 g / 2.6 oz darkish chocolate 70-74% cacao
- 25 g / 2 tbsp cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
- 65 g / ½ cup plain flour (or GF flour combine + ¼ tsp xanthan gum)
- ¼ tsp nice salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE LAYER
- 200 g / 7 oz darkish chocolate 70-74% cacao, damaged up
- 50 g / 1.75 oz vegan butter (I used Violife), cubed
- 240 g / 1 cup aquafaba (I used canned however home made works too)
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar OR ½ tsp lemon juice
- 50 g / ¼ cup caster sugar
METHOD
BROWNIE LAYER
- Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° F (160° C / 320° F with a fan setting). Grease the perimeters of a 20 cm / 8 inch baking tin and line the underside – I used an adjustable baking body on a sturdy baking tray.
- Place damaged up chocolate and chopped vegan butter in a metallic or glass bowl suspended over a water tub. Be sure the bowl doesn’t contact the water beneath and use low warmth. As soon as the water underneath the bowl begins to simmer, change off the warmth and permit the contents of the bowl to soften gently into one another within the residual warmth. GENTLY and slowly combine them collectively.
- Whip aquafaba with an electrical whisk till you get a dense foam, filled with little bubbles (there is no such thing as a want to attain stiff peaks for this recipe).
- Regularly add sugar to the aquafaba, whisking nicely after every addition.
- Slowly pour very heat (in any other case the batter will turn into too stiff so as to add all the flour) chocolate and vegan butter combination into the aquafaba combination and gently fold in till uniform.
- Combine flour, salt, cocoa and baking soda in a small bowl. Fold them in two batches, till no dry pockets stay.
- Switch brownie batter into the ready baking tin, unfold it into the corners with a spatula. Bake for 17-18 minutes, permit to go chilly earlier than topping with the mousse.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE LAYER
- As soon as the bottom is chilly, gently take away it from the tin. Line the perimeters the the tin with baking paper and put the brownie base again in.
- Place chocolate and vegan butter in a metallic or glass bowl suspended over a water tub. Be sure the bowl doesn’t contact the water beneath and use low warmth. Go to the subsequent step when you wait.
- Place aquafaba and cream of tartar in a spotlessly clear bowl.
- Whisk on medium/excessive pace till you attain stiff peaks (if you invert the bowl, whipped aquafaba ought to keep put). Relying in your gear, it could take round 8-10 minutes (it does for me and I’ve an previous handheld whisk).
- Add sugar in 1 tbsp increments whereas whipping and slowly counting to twenty after every addition.
- As soon as the chocolate and butter have melted, stir them GENTLY into one another.
- Add a big spoonful of whipped aquafaba to the melted chocolate and fold it in very gently.
- Now, add a few third of melted chocolate into the whipped aquafaba and fold gently utilizing a versatile spatula, when it’s roughly included add one other third after which the final third.
- Once you’ve added all the chocolate, keep it up folding gently till no white streaks stay. Be mild and gradual or else you’ll knock an excessive amount of air out of the aquafaba.
- Prime chilly brownie with the mousse and place within the fridge till set – at the very least in a single day. Embellish* with cocoa powder and minimize with a pointy knife.
NOTES
*DECORATION: Whereas I embellished my cake with a cloud of Italian meringue, I’d not advocate doing the identical as this triggered issues, which I didn’t realise till I got here to chop the cake. The moisture within the meringue and the act of torching it with a chef’s torch weakened the mousse and made it unimaginable for me to chop a neat slice… As a substitute, I counsel a skinny sprinkling of cocoa powder on high – as is conventional for a tiramisu – and possibly some edible gold mud if you’re feeling additional exuberant.
