Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse Recipe with Cashew Cream

teacup filled with dark chocolate mousse

5 from 2 votes

Vegan Dark Chocolate Mousse Recipe with Cashew Cream

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!

Prep Time10

Chilling time8

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Dark Chocolate, Mousse, Vegan Cashew Cream

Servings:

Calories: 141kcal

Author: Lis Lam

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!

Notes

*Coconut Cream is completely solid at room temperature and necessary to make the mousse set. If you use regular Coconut Milk that separates into liquid and solid at room temperature, it will not set as firmly.

**To make these truly vegan, use dairy-free chocolate chips. Regular chocolate chips contain a small amount of dairy -- usually in the form of milk powder or milk solids.

***If using a high powered blender, soaking the cashews is not necessary. But if your blender is not powerful enough, I recommend soaking in cold water overnight. Or cover with hot water for 1 hour before blending.

Nutrition