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:
Bob Kopacz says
This looks great. Hopefully I can find a bit of time this weekend to give it a try!
Elana says
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do Bob :-)
Heather says
Wondered if you left out the coffee and just used the hot water would you have a chocolate mousse? So want to try this soon… and love you website!
Elana says
Heather, I haven’t tried that so not sure. Here’s a link to my Chocolate Pudding recipe for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/2-ingredient-chocolate-pudding/
I think you’ll love it!
Elana
Belladune says
This is in my fridge setting as we speak! I didn’t have any agave, but used sucanat instead. tastes good not set, so I’m sure once it’s set it’ll be divine! Thank you for this, and all your other recipes!
Elana says
You’re welcome Belladune!
meredith ellman says
FYI I froze them for a little bit and it gave them a wonderful gelato consistency!
Elana says
That sounds amazing Merideth!
meredith ellman says
Hi Elana, I love all your recipes! I tired making this today and after 3 hours of chilling its still the liquidy consistency it was when I put it in the fridge. I used light coconut milk & xylitol. Is that the problem? Thanks!
Elana says
Merideth, yes, that is the problem. This recipe requires full fat coconut milk because when the fat solidifies upon chilling it stabilizes the mousse :-)
Courtney says
I made this last night and it ended up with a very strong, cough-syrup aftertaste. Very strange. I usually use alcohol-free vanilla but only had the stuff with alcohol in it this time. Is 1 Tbls vanilla the correct amount for this recipe – it seems like a lot? Anyone else have this problem? Thanks.
jessica says
Hmmm… almost sounds like bad vanilla. I made this recently with vanilla extract that has 35% organic alcohol and it came out great!
Elana says
Yes, it sounds like either it was not a pure vanilla product or it had gone bad.
Jess says
I haven’t made this yet but am planning on it, I just have a question first. What makes this a mousse? I made the chocolate pie with peanut crust and that filling is unbelievably good, so what are the differences between that and this in texture or consistency? I always think of a mousse as light and airy but I don’t know if that can be accomplished without egg whites (although I’ve never actually made real mousse either). Just kind of wondering what to expect with texture. I am planning a dessert menu for a party and was thinking of chocolate mousse. Thanks for your help!
Elana says
Jess, this vegan mousse has a wonderful creamy texture, though is not as airy as a traditional mousse made with eggs :-)
Callie says
I came across this website today and I made it for my parents tonight. What amazing flavor! I topped it off with some diced strawberries. Very simple to make.
Elana says
Thanks Callie! Glad to hear this was amazing :-)
Stephanie says
I love your blog Elana, and I think you expressing your political views here is completely within the realm of your rights :) I may or may not agree with them, but I feel like you’re the one sharing your experiences with food, so you should be able to share a small joke with us about the food. I think if you went off on a political rant, that would be another story…but you still have my friendship ;D
eva says
Elana, I love your recipe blog, but really don’t agree with your political views or comments. Try to stay more focused on the food instead of politics. You may keep more friends that way. :)