We had a super quiet Thanksgiving, which was wonderful. It was just the 4 of us and I kept the meal very simple. Around 4 pm we sat down to a dinner of delicious turkey (roasted by my darling husband, a man of many talents), brussel sprouts with chestnuts, cranberry sauce and gravy.
We ate for about half an hour, then my husband and I did the dishes, while the children squabbled. After that we all played cards and I thought about how thankful I am to be with them. I’m not sure what I did to end up with 3 such phenomenal people. Each of them is incredibly fun, interesting, and genuinely kind. I am truly blessed on a daily basis. Even though I hadn’t planned to downsize our Thanksgiving consciously, I was happy that I ended up really simplifying the holiday this year, so that I could spend the day enjoying the blessings in my life.
After teaching me how to play hearts, my husband retired to his office to watch some football and the boys and I played rotating scrabble. I took turns being on each of their teams. Between scrabble turns my older son and I worked on making truffles (we are inherent multi-taskers), which accidentally turned into an unforeseen mousse.
When I mentioned this to my husband all he could say was –Sarah Palin. Those two words, “unforeseen” and “mousse” added up to only one thing in his politically overactive mind. He claimed that “Sarah Palin Mousse” would be a great name for this dish, though as you can see, I begged to differ and stuck with my own name for this super rich, easy to make Vegan Mocha Mousse.
As we all know, sometimes the best dishes aren’t the ones we intend to make.
Accidental Mocha Mousse
Ingredients
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon organic decaf coffee beans, espresso grind
- ¼ cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- In a medium pot, melt chocolate into coconut milk over very low heat
- Place ground coffee beans in a melita filter and pour ¼ cup hot water over them
- Stir coffee into chocolate mixture, discarding grounds
- Stir in agave, then vanilla and almond extracts
- Spoon mousse into half-cup ramekins
- Refrigerate 2-3 hours, until firm
- Serve
Equipment
My husband and I shared one of these little dishes of paleo vegan chocolate mousse for dessert. This mousse is very rich so be careful, don’t eat too much. In terms of substitutions, I imagine there are many different ways that you could make this. Feel free to let loose and experiment with your own flavors and alternative ingredients.
I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving! Now that it’s over, what dishes would you like to see during the upcoming month? Desserts? Salads? Entrees? Something else? Leave a comment with your request!
Here are some of my other paleo vegan dessert recipes:
Steph says
yum! I used unsweetened baking chocolate and added an extra tablespoon of agave. it’s delicious!
Elana says
Steph, thanks for letting us know this was delicious!
elana says
cdecocina -I think it would be amazing with orange in it –keep me posted…
Jessica -Thanks for your beautiful words. Just posted a turkey soup, so I hope you like it!
moi -Thanks, that sounds great, I bet my boys will love it.
Freedom -Yes, more main dishes are coming, stay tuned…
Sara -Thanks for your comment. Have you looked in my amazon store? I also have a post on cookware that you may want to check out.
donna -Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comment; I am thinking about a stuffed mushrooms post prior to the holidays, you might like that one.
nickie -Thanks for your comment. I will be making a bunch of veggie side dishes that I hope you will like, some might work as entrees as well…
Ruth -I think you might like the crock pot turkey chili I just posted, good to throw in during the morning and it’s pretty much ready when you get home.
VeggieGirl -Thanks so much for your sweet comments; you always make my day!
Kay -Hee hee hee.
Ruth -Yes, this is a problem throughout the site that I am going to be remedying soon. Do weigh your chocolate prior to melting; 1 cup of chocolate = 6 ounces in weight.
Sarah -Wow, that’s a a great idea. You might like my stuffed acorn squash. I bet little pumpkins stuffed with a ground turkey chili would be great. I will keep that in mind for a post.
Shannon -Thanks for your comment. There will definitely be more warming dishes coming and I will throw a few coconut flour recipes in as well.
Leslie -You are welcome; more warming dishes are on the way.
BevB. -Thanks for your comment! I am tickled that you continue to read my blog. More winter salads coming up. Take care and hope we chat soon.
Kathleen -Haven’t heard of Peanut Butter Buckeyes, though they sound delicious. I do have a recipe for making your own chocolate with agave.
Stephanie -Thanks; stopped grinding my own way back when. Just takes too much time and Honeyville sells it on the cheap, so it’s easier and just as cost effective to purchase ready made.
Samantha -Thanks for your kind words. I will definitely be putting the German Chocolate Cake on my list. I don’t want you and your mom to miss out and it shouldn’t be that difficult for me to devise.
CosetTheTable -Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Samantha says
:( I just wrote a very long post and I don’t think it worked! That’s ok, I’ll try to recreate it later. I just wanted to thank you for the recipes I made with my mom this Thanksgiving (we are both gluten free), we loved the cranberry sauce, cran walnut bread, and gravy. You made our holiday; we have a wonderful extended family who love old holiday staples like canned cranberry sauce and corn bread stuffing and sour cream mashed potatoes…no thank you! So, Elana, thank you very much from my mom and I! My request for you could prove to be a difficult task; I have never found a recipe for German Chocolate Cake that isn’t loaded with sugar and flour! I have faith in your baking skills after having tried so many of your recipes, so I thought I would at least ask. I make a German Chocolate Cake for my family every year for Christmas, but now that my mom and I have gone gluten free we will have to miss out, unless we can create a better recipe. Thanks so much, and good luck if you attempt the cake!
Elana says
Samantha, here you go! My recipe for German Chocolate Cake:
https://elanaspantry.com/a-new-german-chocolate-cake/
Enjoy!
Elana
Stephanie says
I’ve been craving a good chocolatey treat! This will most definitely do! Although I am very curious how this turned into a mousse from truffles :)
I love your blog, lots of great recipes and ideas! You bake a lot w/ almond flour – do you grind your own? I’ll be happy to see whatever you post I’m sure!
Elana says
Stephanie, I purchase my almond flour as it saves time and is higher quality to do so :-)
Kathleen says
Peanut Butter Buckeyes are my favorite home-made Christmas candy. I would love a healthier version. I am posting a question about chocolate in the forum because my daughter cannot tolerate even a small amount of the unrefined cane chrystals that are in the dagoba chocolate. So I need to make sweetened chocolate withe the unsweetened chocolate and honey or agave, but I’ve never done it. Any input on that would be appreciated
Bev B. says
My request: Winter salads, please and thank you! Your creativity is inspiring – and salads are the perfect mediumm for lots of creativity.
Sarah Palin mousse made me guffaw aloud!
Lovely Thanksgiving lessons all’round. Thanks for sharing.
Lesley Prince says
Your Thanksgiving sounded ideal to me. What a fine recipe your son developed accidentally. It’s often the way great recipes are formulated. I love luscious mousses and puddings occasionally and I’m going to make Accidental Mousse soon. Please feature some hearty one-dish casseroles and slow-cooker entrees. They’re ideal for the cold winters here in S.W. Ontario. We get the same weather basically as Buffalo, N.Y. but much less snow. We need a warming, satisfying meal at the end of a winter’s day. I’m mainly looking for G.F. vegetarian ideas although I occasionally cook non-vegetarian meals. I love your site and since I’m celiac, you’re extending my cooking repertoire greatly! Thank you.
Shannon says
MMmmmm I am a chocolate addict (which, unfortunately, my body does not welcome). This recipe looks like it will soon be satisfying my dark-chocolate-loving taste buds without too much burden on my liver and love handles.
As for future recipes, I would love to see everything suggested above, but I do lean towards more coconut flour recipes and anything that will help warm and rejuvenate us for the coming winter months. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is one of the coldest places in North America. Temperatures tend to reach below -40 degrees Celsius.
Elana says
Shannon, here’s a link to my coconut flour recipes for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/ingredients/coconut-flour/
Enjoy!
Elana
Sarah says
Hi! The recipe sounds awesome! I will def have to try it soon!
You seem like an extremely talented and creative person. I was wondering if you have any ideas for gluten-free recipes made with pumpkin besides the traditional pies and breads and such…like maybe a main dish for dinner? Just curious….Thanks! Blessings!
Elana says
Sarah, here’s my recipe for stuffed acorn squash:
https://elanaspantry.com/acorn-squash-with-cranberry-apple-stuffing/
Enjoy!
Elana
Ruth says
Question: All of my baking chocolate is given by weight, not by cup. Are you melting the chocolate first and then measuring the liquid amount?
Elana says
Ruth, I measure then melt :-)