This Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake is a fab dessert for a special dinner. Simple to make with a wonderful rich chocolate filling. There’s no soya, or nuts in our recipe – we stick to coconut cream to get that lovely mousse consistency. I’ve done it with caramel, but you can keep it plain if you prefer.
You can make this gluten free by using gluten free biscuits, the dairy free margarine will hold it together just fine.
There are three parts to this recipe – the cookie base, the vegan caramel and the vegan chocolate mousse.
Free From: Dairy, Egg, Nuts
Contains: Gluten
Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake
This is a rich and delicious dessert - the cookie base is a great match for the rich consistency of the mousse. Top with vegan caramel and sifted cocoa powder.
Ingredients
Base
- 170 g broken up Digestive Biscuits - crushed with a rolling pin until they are a crumb consistency
- 65 g Dairy-Free Margarine
- 70 g Caster Sugar
Caramel
- 1/4 Cup Dairy-Free Margarine
- 1/2 Cup Caster Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Cream
- 1/4 Cup Golden Syrup
- 1.4 tsp Vanilla
- 1/8 tsp Sea Salt
Filling
- 575 ml Chilled Coconut Cream - Sainsbury's is the best, it must be chilled or it won't whip
- 450 g Vegan Dark Chocolate (again Sainsbury's is good)
- 1 tbsp Liquid Glucose (you can get this at Sainsbury's or Waitrose and probably every other major supermarket)
Instructions
- Line a springform pan with greaseproof paper and grease liberally.
- For the base mix the sugar with the Digestive Biscuits. Melt the margarine and add to the cookie mixture.
- Press into the base of the tin and bake at 180 C 350 F for 8-10 minutes.
- Set to one side to cool.
- Now make the caramel. In a heavy-bottomed pan place the sugar, syrup and margarine over medium heat. As the margarine and sugars melt whisk the mixture until smooth. As the mixture starts to warm up grab a wooden spoon and give it a stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Bring the mixture to a rolling boil but make sure it doesn’t boil over! The mixture will start to thicken (keep giving it a good stir). Grab your thermometer and check the temperature. You need to keep an eye on the temperature to make sure it doesn’t get too hot.
- Once you reach 230ºF then you’ve reached the right temperature for a nice sauce - this happens quite quickly.
- Take it off the heat and add the coconut cream, vanilla and salt. Whisk and pop back on the heat and bring back to the boil for about 5 minutes – take off the heat when you reach 220ºF and check the consistency.
- If it’s a bit thin keep it on the heat for a minute or two more. Pour the sauce into a container to cool down and don’t touch the sauce as it’s blisteringly hot!
- Now for the chocolate - grab a pot, fill 2/3rds of the way up with water, pop a metal bowl on top of the pan, and add the chocolate. Melt the chocolate slowly in the bowl over low heat.
- Whip the Coconut Cream into soft peaks.
- Once the chocolate is melted, whisk in the Liquid Glucose, then take a large spoonful of the chocolate and gently mix it with the whipped coconut cream, keep adding the chocolate a bit at a time and mix gently. You will end up with a great combination of dark chocolate and whipped cream.
- Take half the caramel and smooth it onto the cookie base - I dribble it on then smooth it with a knife. Pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes to set. Once cooled, pour the chocolate mixture on top and smooth with a knife. Pop into the fridge to set for 4 hours.
- When you are ready to serve run a knife around the edge of the springform pan to make sure the cake won't stick to the edge when you release the cake. Then put the rest of the caramel in a piping bag and pipe swirls, or lines on top. If you don't have a piping bag either use a fork, or a sandwich bag with the end snipped off. You don't want too much caramel on the top as you got a nice layer under the chocolate and too much would make the dessert too sweet - dust with sifted cocoa powder.
Tried this over Christmas – delicious! But then, you can never have too much chocolate.