Peanut butter caramel chocolate mousse
Peanut butter caramel chocolate mousse
Hope the sun is shining for you this weekend! Our weather is not too bad, which is a miracle as it’s a Bank Holiday here in the UK and that’s usually a fire sure recipe for rain. We are not planning on doing much as we both need to recharge our batteries a little. I am working today to bring this delicious weekend dessert to you, but once I hit ‘publish’, I shall chill in the garden with a book and my cat, Tina.
I’ve been feeling a bit unwell the past few days, which is why I’ve had to shoot this recipe pretty last minute. I took an antihistamine for the first time ever in my life (turns out it did not really help) and I guess because I am not used to them at all, it has knocked me out completely. I could not keep my eyes open yesterday. Luckily, today I am much better…
It’s a touch ironic that I’ve decided to post such an indulgent recipe right now as I am in the middle of trying to curb my sweet tooth again (probably in vain, but one can dream!) I must love torturing myself. It’s been a while since I’ve made a vegan mousse with aquafaba so I’ve decided that I need to rectify that to make sure I don’t lose my skills (that’s the party line anyway…) and yup, all good. The mousse came out beautifully and so did the peanutty caramel layer.
They are a match made in heaven, one airy and not that sweet (although feel free to override me), the other silky, sweet, nutty and a touch salty. They go together so perfectly! If you are hosting, I wholeheartedly encourage you to make it this long weekend (if you live in the UK) and your dessert will be the talk of the dinner party, I can promise you that!
- 120 ml / ยฝ cup maple syrup + optionally more to sweeten the mousse
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup crunchy unsweetened peanut butter or almond butter
- 45 ml / 3 tbsp almond milk
- a fat pinch of salt (optional)
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
- 150 g / 5.3 oz dark vegan chocolate, broken into pieces
- 15-45 ml / 1-3 tsbp almond milk
- 120 ml / ยฝ cup aquafaba / chickpea brine
- ยผ tsp lemon juice or white vinegar (optional)
- Place maple syrup in a small pot and slowly bring it to a gentle boil (it takes about 3 minutes).
- Once it starts foaming, add peanut butter and start whisking it in until it all dissolves into the maple syrup.
- Allow it to come to a gentle boil again and add almond milk and salt. Mix well and allow it to cool. Caramel will thicken as it cools, if it’s too loose, bring it back to a gentle simmer again and simmer for a few minutes to thicken. If it’s too runny, add a splash more almond milk.
- Divide caramel between 4 glasses and set aside for it to cool down completely before topping it up with chocolate mousse.
- Place the chocolate and 1 tsbp of almond milk in a glass or metal bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Simmer on low heat until the chocolate is almost melted – err on the side of caution as it is important for the chocolate not to overheat. Take the bowl off the pot with hot water and let it sit there.
- Gently and slowly whisk chocolate until smooth. You may want to add a bit of maple syrup to the mixture at this point. I did not as I feel that caramel provides enough sweetness to this dessert, but it’s down to personal preference. If your chocolate seizes, which happens sometimes, bring it back by whisking in another 1-2 tablespoons of room temperature almond milk. Allow this mixture to cool down a little.
- While the chocolate is cooling, whisk aquafaba and a few drops of acid (it helps it stiffen) with an electric whisk until you achieve stiff peaks. Aquafaba needs to be so stiff that you should be able to invert the bowl over your head.
- Gradually (start off with 1/3 of whipped aqauafaba) and gently fold whipped aquafaba into the chocolate mixture until the two are well incorporated. The mixture will deflate a little, don’t worry, that’s normal, but you don’t want it to deflate too much by knocking too much air out of the mixture, which is why a gentle and slow folding motion is key here.
- Spoon the mousse on top of the cold caramel and chill the dessert in the fridge until the mousse is fully set (I recommend for 8 hours / overnight). Decorate if you wish and serve.
This mousse is quite delicate so you may want to reinforce it by adding a bit of melted vegan butter/coconut oil to the peanut butter mixture before combining with whipped aquafaba. In terms of your second question, I am not sure if that would work well if I am honest - I think piping might destroy air-bubbles that form after setting. Hope this helps! Ania
Your website did not notify me that you have replied to my comment, so only now I read your comment :)
The chocolate seized up... Adding almond milk did not help. I guess that mixing liquid with chocolate isn't the best idea?
As for the aquafaba - I knew it's ready because I could turn the bowl upside down and it stayed in place. After I mixed the chocolate, the "magic" of the aquafaba was lost, and even after I left it in the fridge, it turned into a drink... I have tried to use aquafaba several times to make mousse but it always turned the same, unlike this recipe: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/3-ingredient-vegan-chocolate-pots/
Thank you <3
I am sorry you are having trouble with aquafaba. It can be a challenging ingredient for some people to get right first time round, but like most things, with practice it becomes a straightforward and reliable ingredient to use. I have made countless recipes with whipped aquafaba on this website and I have had hundreds of people sending me photos of their renditions of my recipes via Instagram, for example, so I assure you that it works like dream!
While Natalie's pots looks beautiful, they are made with very different ingredients/technique and their texture is therefore different too so it's like comparing apples and pears in my opinion, but I am glad you found a recipe you like. Cheers, Ania
The 1tsp of soy milk and a bit of maple syrup distoryed 150gram of 85% high quality chocolate.
I tried again and spent another 150gram together with about 1/2 tsp refiend coconut oil
After I whipped the aquafaba (i could turn it upside down) I folded some of the chocolate and then I said goodbye to my aquafaba. It turned into a drink instead of a mousse!
Even though it will never be a mousse, I tried to split the amount of chocolate into the cups. You have said that it should fit 4 cups. It's not enough even for one glass... the fouth cup from the left has no chocolate at all.
https://i.ibb.co/Qrj3wdC/IMAG0306.jpg
I am sorry that you are disappointed. I am not sure what you mean by saying that chocolate got 'destroyed' but I suspect that it simply seized (as mentioned in point 6 of my instructions), which happens sometimes. Chocolate is a temperamental ingredient and it is tricky to work with. It seizes when it gets overheated, heated up too quickly or when it comes into contact with water, for example. Have you followed my tip on how to bring it back? It always works for me.
As for the aquafaba, again - it takes some skill to work with it - it could be not 'stiff' enough, or the chocolate was too warm or got incorporated too quickly and deflated as a result. It is hard for me to say without being there.
As for the portion size, this recipe makes approximately 4 x 120 ml portions. It may not sound like enough but the dessert is very rich so that's more than enough in my opinion. It is no wonder that you did not get as much as I did as deflated aquafaba has much less volume due to the fact that all the air bubbles that make the mousse airy have been lost.
I have made this and other aquafaba mousses countless times and I stand by this recipe, it does however require certain amount of practice as you need to get the feel for the ingredients used. I hope you'll try again as the result can be divine.
Ania
i just made it! i though my aquafaba was well beaten (i could turn it upside down) then i add it slowly to the cool down chocolate and slowly fold it! it kind of seperates...not just a little flat...was hard to combine! so i stopped and pour it in ramequin in the fridge to see...but i doubt it worked as i couldnt spoon it, more a pouring (not liquid tho) consistency!! can you help me? what did i do wrong? thanks
It's hard to say. Working with aquafaba does take a bit of practice, but was your chocolate too cool perhaps? Sounds like it was as you say 'it was hard to combine'? It needs to be still liquid but not piping hot. Hope that makes sense! Ania
Thank you!!
X Sarah
I use 70% cacao chocolate. I am pretty sure that it does not matter that much in this recipe apart from the taste, the darker the chocolate the more bitter the chocolate layer will be I imagine. Hope that helps! Ania
My daughter's favourite dish - I will be making this! thank you.
Shelley
I think so but having said that I have not eaten (or cooked with) eggs in 5 years so I am unable to give you any pointers here, I'm afraid. Ania