Vegan Chocolate Mousse - CREAMY FOOLPROOF RECIPE (2024)

FAQs

Why is my vegan chocolate mousse grainy? ›

If you whip to medium or stiff peaks, you run the risk of overwhipping during the folding process and ending up with grainy mousse at best and chunky buttery mousse at worst. Ew. Consider whipping the cream by hand so you can more closely watch the texture and stop before over-whipping.

The thickener:

Traditionally, mousse is made with gelatin. The gelatin should be bloomed in cool water or 5 minutes, then melted before adding to the base.

The chocolate you used wasn't fluid enough

A three-drop chocolate has exactly the right cocoa butter content to produce the perfect end results. Chocolate with less cocoa butter in it will give the mousse too little texture. How to choose the right fluidity?

Use a liaison to thicken up mousse

It can take many different shapes depending on the recipe it's being added to, but it is most often a mixture of egg yolks and heavy cream. Livestrong points out that what makes a liaison great for thickening a mousse is that it isn't adding anything new to the recipe.

Common mistakes when making mousse (and how to fix them)

It's easy to remelt the chocolate in the microwave until smooth and try again. A grainy mousse is also a result of overbeating so only beat for 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture resembles lightly whipped cream.

The trick to whipping aquafaba is using a hand or stand mixer! Whisking it by hand takes quite a long time and does not produce as good of results. Another trick is to throw in 1/8-1/4 tsp cream of tartar, which causes the aquafaba to whip up much easier, faster, and makes the peaks firmer.

Arrowroot Powder

Also known as arrowroot starch, this substance is made from the root of the arrowroot plant. It can be used to thicken a variety of vegan dishes without changing the color or sheen of the dish. Therefore, it works especially well for thickening glossy vegan frostings and clear soups.

Create an arrowroot or cornflour slurry from ½ tablespoon of arrowroot/cornflour and 2 tbsp of cream or milk. Add the mousse back into a saucepan to heat up and then whisk in the slurry until it thickens.

Bavarian creams differ from mousses in that they are usually made by thickening a custard sauce with gelatin, then folding in whipped cream (not whipped egg whites). Mousses can be served “standalone” in a dessert cup or used as filling for cakes and Charlottes.

How do you make chocolate mousse less runny? ›

Try adding a small amount of cornstarch to a little water, and add it to the mousse a little at a time and see how it thickens the texture. You can also beat some egg yolks in a separate bowl over low heat until they increase in volume and slowly add them to the mousse mixture.

You can also use 25 percent more gelatin to stiffen a savory mousse. A basic savory mousse recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of gelatin to 3 tablespoons of water. To moderately thicken the mousse, use 1 1/2 teaspoons of gelatin and 4 1/2 tablespoons of water.

To rescue your grainy, over-whipped cream, you only need a few tablespoons of fresh cream! Add fresh cream to the over-whisked mixture and bring it together using a wire whisk. It will come together and be smooth and creamy again.

Whip your cream until peaks just start to form

However, the key to a spectacular mousse is really about the cream. To prevent your mousse from turning grainy, you'll therefore want to readjust the strength of your peaks at the whipping stage of your mousse-making endeavor.

Cream should always be cold for whipping, and it should be full fat (don't attempt to whip lower fat cream - it's not possible!). Take care not to over whip, as over whipped cream can make your chocolate mousse grainy.

When chocolate is melted, its ingredients—mainly cocoa powder, sugar, and cocoa butter—disperse evenly, creating a fluid mass. But if even a tiny amount of moisture is introduced, the liquid and the sugar will form a syrup to which the cocoa particles will cling, thereby creating grainy clumps.