Two ingredient vegan chocolate mousse, made simply with dark chocolate and orange juice. Using the method developed by Hervé This, the end result is a very healthy, light and creamy orange flavoured dark chocolate mousse.
It’s just about Christmas! We have our tiny (potted) tree up, and I’m finishing up making all my gifts for friends and family. Today is my last day of work, and last blog post, until the 26th and after that I’ll be dog/house sitting again for friends until mid-January. I’ll be continuing posting several times a week post Christmas and have some awesome new year’s and healthy recipes to start 2018 off on the right foot.
Some recipes I’m making to give as food gifts:
Sunflower Seed Banana Bread
Chocolate Truffles
Orange Spice Shortbread
Chocolate Orange Macaroons
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookies
Plus some non-food gifts that I need to get my shit together and finish. It’s four days till Christmas you guys.
This is a two ingredient vegan chocolate mousse recipe, using a method developed by Hervé This, a French molecular gastronomist. The original recipe contains only dark chocolate and water, which seems impossible to people who associate water with chocolate seizing up. The method involves melting the chocolate in the liquid, orange juice in this case, and then whipping rapidly as it cools to create a chocolate Chantilly (mousse).
As soon as I read about this method I imagined making it with orange juice and I’m so happy I did. The flavour of the orange is just subtle. This mousse is not for people who don’t like chocolate, or people who dislike slight bitterness in a dessert. The end result is not very sweet, mostly dark chocolate with a hint of orange. If you’re very fond of dark chocolate then this is perfect for you, but it is, of course, very rich, and best in small portions. This recipe could easily serve six people.
I’m sharing this before Christmas because it is a lovely holiday dessert, but it would carry nicely into a new year’s party and is also healthy enough that you can make it year-round without any concern about over-indulging. To those of you in the southern hemisphere, or any northerners who may read this in the summer, try serving this with seasonal berries in place of pomegranate.
Because this is a dairy-free mousse, you need a very dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa mass, because the fat is needed for volume. Use the very best dark chocolate you can, one that you would eat on its own. No baking chocolate. The same goes for the orange juice – avoid a very sour juice and try to choose a nice tasting one, or better yet, squeeze it right out of the orange yourself. I know I usually try to avoid this kind of food snobbery but you only have two ingredients, no cream or spices, so there’s nothing there to cover up those flavours.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I’ll be here again with a new recipe on the 26th.
Let’s connect! If you liked this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via facebook, pinterest, and bloglovin.
Dark Chocolate Orange Mousse
Two ingredient vegan chocolate mousse, made simply with dark chocolate and orange juice. Using the method developed by Hervé This, the end result is a very healthy, light and creamy orange flavoured dark chocolate mousse.
Ingredients
- 150 grams good quality dark chocolate 70% or higher
- 125 ml / 1/2 cup orange juice
Instructions
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Break the chocolate into small pieces and place into a heat proof bowl, along with the orange juice, over a small saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring gently with a whisk, until the chocolate has completely melted.
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Fill a large mixing bowl with ice and place the smaller bowl with the chocolate mixture into it. Whisk rapidly by hand for 4-5 minutes, or until the mixture resembles whipped cream. It will start out very thin but gains volume quickly near the end. If you over mix, the chocolate will become grainy, but if it does, you can simply reheat it and start again.
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Pour the mousse into small bowls or glasses and top with a little coconut whipped cream, orange zest, and pomegranate. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a day.
Notes
• Stop whipping just before you think you need to. A few seconds too long and it'll have gone too far.
• The original method calls for everything to be melted together in a saucepan. I've altered it to eliminate a dish and reduce the chance of overheating the chocolate and ending up with a burnt-tasting mousse.
• I have also made this by sticking my bowl full of chocolate into snow and then whipping, and simply by placing the bowl onto a very cold stone floor. If you don't have ice on hand, there are other options!
• It doesn't really work to use an electric mixer for this, prepare for a bit of an arm workout.
Hi Alexandra,
yep, every now and then I still read your blog and try some of your recipes as they are most interesting and fun. Right now I want to try your chocolate-beet-muffins, unusual combination but sure worth giving it a try. Some of your ingredients are hard to get, like arrowroot powder, at least here in Germany, but sure enough I can substitute it by something else.
I read you miss snow and lakes, well about the lakes, I can encourage you to go to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to see the Malchiner See or Kummerower See, but about snow,well, we miss it too. Worst winter ever.
Say hello to Graham and enjoy your time though, with or without snow, we can't help it anyway.
Love and wishes,
Sabine
Hi Sabine! That's so nice to hear 🙂 I just get my arrowroot powder at Denns but you could certainly use potato starch instead. Yes, I'm hoping we can go to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern this summer as I want to see the chalk cliffs, as well. It's so close by that I know I'll regret it if we don't go. At least spring is coming now, and that's one of the nicest things about Germany! The Schneeglöckchen are already peeking out. Thank you! <3