Happy Saturday. So avocado mousse, lovely and all as it is, is now old news. Aquafaba is where it's at now. Aqua...what? Aquafaba is the water in which chickpeas have been cooked and it is now been put to all sorts of culinary uses. While it may not sound the most appealing, it makes the most delicious chocolate mousse when whipped into soft peaks and combined with melted dark chocolate. It's really light and trust me, it tastes nothing like chickpeas. Today's recipe is becoming a regular in this house as it's so easy to make, relatively inexpensive and tastes so good (again, trust me on this). Combined with orange juice to give a beautiful dark chocolate orange flavour and served with a really simply ginger crumb, this makes for an ideal Christmas dessert.
Ingredients
For the chocolate orange mousse:
The drained juice of 1 can of chickpeas (a.k.a. aquafaba)
160g dark chocolate
4 tbsp orange juice
½ tsp sea salt
½ teaspoon lemon juice
For the ginger crumb:
100g ground almonds
1 tsp ground ginger
Pinch sea salt
Zest of half an orange
50g butter*
2 tbsp maple syrup
*For a vegan version of this dessert, use 30g of coconut oil instead of 50g of butter in the ginger crumb.
Method
Pour the drained liquid from the can of chickpeas into a mixing bowl and add the lemon juice. Whisk into soft peaks.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan ¼ full with simmering water. Add the orange juice and sea salt once the chocolate has melted and stir to combine.
Gradually fold the aquafaba into the melted chocolate in three separate batches until fully incorporated. Try to do this in as little folds as possible.
Transfer to individual serving glasses and place in the fridge for an hour to allow to set.
To make the ginger crumb, preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Mix together the ground almonds, ground ginger, sea salt and orange zest. Melt the butter and add it along with the maple syrup to the dry ingredients. Spread over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes, until golden. Allow to cool.
To serve, sprinkle the ginger crumb on top of the chocolate mousse, grate a little orange zest on top and add a sprig of fresh mint.
