Satisfy all your chocolate cravings with a simple plant-based dessert: Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse! Every bit as indulgent and decadent without the egg yolks and heavy cream. Instead, coconut cream creates a luscious creamy base. Melted dark chocolate chips and espresso powder intensify the rich chocolate flavor. Serve with dairy-free Cashew Cream and flaky sea salt for the ultimate healthy dessert that’s full of big flavor!
What is Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse?
Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse is a plant-based dessert with intense chocolate flavor and silky texture. Traditional chocolate mousse requires egg yolks, heavy cream, or gelatine to create that creamy texture and indulgent flavor. For this vegan version, coconut cream is used instead. Full-fat Coconut Cream is thick and rich. At room temperature, it becomes completely solid. The perfect base for a vegan mousse.
To be honest, Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse does not taste like traditional chocolate mousse. It is light and fluffy. Not as heavy or rich. A healthier chocolate mouse, you could say. It stills feels like an indulgent treat. And satisfies all those chocolate cravings!
An easy dessert for chocolate lovers everywhere. Whether you are vegan or not, this is a great dessert recipe to have on hand. Easy and delicious, it only requires heating the coconut cream and chocolate chips together.
Instead of whipped cream, top with cashew cream. It’s a vegan whipped cream made from blended cashews. Using a high-powered blender whips the cashews into a light and airy texture. A sprinkle of flaky sea salt makes it complete.
FYI: The mousse base is inspired by Ful-filled’s Two Ingredient Chocolate Pots de Creme. I was intrigued by the transformation of a classically decadent dessert into a plant-based one. With a few additions to intensify the chocolate flavor. And cashew cream to add that silky, airy finish.
What is Cashew Cream?
Cashew Cream is a non-dairy, plant-based substitute for whipped cream. Raw cashews are soaked in water and then blended with maple syrup and vanilla until light, airy, and fluffy. The texture is unbelievably silky and creamy. It even looks like whipped cream!
Since Cashew Cream is made without dairy, it’s a good alternative for lactose-intolerant friends and family. Easy to digest and full of protein, fibre, and healthy fats — it’s also very tasty.
Cashew Cream also stores a long time in the fridge, about 1-2 weeks.
Ingredients:
- Coconut Cream. At room temperature, coconut cream is completely solid. Do not use Coconut Milk — it will be too runny. The solid nature of coconut cream will help the vegan mousse set.
- Coffee Powder + Vanilla Extract. The flavor boosters bring out the intensity of the chocolate.
- Dark Chocolate. For intense dark chocolate flavor, add good quality dark chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips also work well — but make sure to whisk well. If you like things sweeter, milk chocolate is also a nice option. *To make it completely vegan, look for dairy-free chocolate chips. Regular chocolate contains modified milk powder.*
- Cashew Cream. Vegan whipped cream. So creamy, smooth, fluffy, and light! To make, blend cashews with vanilla, maple sugar, and water.
- Flaky sea salt. A sprinkle of flaky sea salt, right before serving, enhances all the flavors. I use Maldon.
How to make Easy Vegan Chocolate Mousse:
- Make mousse. In a small saucepan, heat coconut cream until steaming. Do not let it come to a boil! Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, instant coffee powder, vanilla extract, and salt. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk, making sure the melted chocolate chips are fully dissolved.
- Pour into cups. Pour chocolate mixture into ramekins. Cool completely at room temperature. Transfer to fridge and chill overnight.
- Make Cashew Cream. Add raw cashews, water, maple syrup, and vanilla to a high-powered blender. Blend on high speed until creamy and thick, about 3 minutes.
- Serve. Remove chilled chocolate mousse cups from the fridge. Add a dollop of cashew cream and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt over each cup. A dusting of cocoa powder is optional. Enjoy!
PRO Tips:
- Melt Chocolate Chips COMPLETELY. For best results, make sure the chocolate chips are completely melted. Whisk thoroughly and check to make sure there are no chunks sticking to the bottom.
- Make ahead. These mousse cups can be placed in the fridge 2-3 days in advance for an easy make-ahead dessert.
- Use a good blender to make the Cashew Cream! Many recipes recommend soaking cashews 1-8 hours. However, using a good blender makes the soaking time unnecessary. For reference, my 20-year-old Osterizer blender quickly blitzed the unsoaked raw cashews. And produced a fluffy and airy texture in 3 minutes!
- Blend Cashew Cream longer than you think. The texture should be light, fluffy, and creamy — without a hint of graininess!
Variations:
- Spicy Chocolate Mousse. For a spicy chocolate mousse (similar to Mexican Hot Chocolate Pie), add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cayenne, and 1/4 tsp ground ginger to the coconut cream.
FAQ:
Yes, this recipe is easy to double and triple. Increase the ingredient amounts. Make sure you have enough cups and bowls. Or, make a large one and pour into a casserole dish. Good for a dinner party.
Vegan Chocolate mousse lasts 3-5 days, tightly sealed, in the fridge.
More dessert recipes:
- Chocolate Almond Espresso Cake
- Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Dark Chocolate Oat Bars
- Rice Krispies Treats with Chocolate
Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse Recipe with Cashew Cream
Equipment
- 6 small ramekins or teacups (at least 4 oz)
- Small saucepan
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Mousse:
- 2 400ml/13.5oz can full-fat coconut cream (completely solid at room temperature)
- 1 cup/6 oz/170g bittersweet chocolate chips *use dairy-free chips for completely dairy-free mousse (see note below)
- 2 tsp instant coffee powder
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
Cashew Cream:
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
To serve:
- flaky sea salt (I use Maldon)
Instructions
Dark Chocolate Mousse:
- Make mousse. In a small saucepan, heat coconut cream until steaming. At first, the coconut cream should be completely solid. Do not let it come to a boil! Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, instant coffee powder, vanilla, and salt. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk, making sure all chocolate chips are fully melted.
- Pour into cups. Pour chocolate coconut cream into individual cups or glasses. Cool completely at room temperature. Transfer to fridge and chill overnight.
- Whisk, making sure all chocolate chips are fully melted. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a spatula and whisk again. Pour into individual cups. Cool completely at room temperature. Transfer to fridge and chill overnight.
Cashew Cream:
- Make Cashew Cream. Add raw cashews, water, maple syrup, and vanilla to a high-powered blender. Blend on high speed until creamy and thick, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the blender from time to time. The cashew cream is done when the texture is light and fluffy with no graininess whatsoever.
- Chill. Store in the fridge, tightly covered, until chilled. The Cashew Cream keeps for about 1-2 weeks in the fridge.
To serve:
- Serve. Remove chilled chocolate mousse cups from the fridge. Add a dollop of cashew cream and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt over each cup. A dusting of cocoa powder is optional. Enjoy!
When you chill these over night, did the mousse become hard/not spoonable? My chocolate is 66% dark chocolate. I wonder if that is affecting the texture. What chocolate(s) did you make your recipe with?
I’ve used both regular chocolate chips and 80% block chocolate. Both times it was soft and spoonable!
These pots de creme sound amazing! So happy that you were inspired by my recipe 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration 😊