My friend Irvin of Eat the Love hosts a monthly party at 18 Reasons, the nonprofit run by the incredible Bi-Rite Market. It always has a theme, and this month’s was mom’s best dessert. Although my mother was a marvelous cook, dessert (if we had it) was often just berries in Grand Marnier with a bit of ice cream. While I adore that, something in me, can’t show up to a dessert party with macerated berries when people know I eat a mostly vegan diet. It just seems too easy.
Now my grandmother, she made dessert! Tarts, lovely gateaux, crème puffs, everything you can imagine all from scratch. When I was a child, though, I loved chocolate mousse. It seemed so glam in the 1970’s airily whipped chocolate sometimes, scented with orange liqueur and topped with a single berry. I loved it most when she served it in her crystal stemware.
So, chocolate mousse, I would make- and I would top it with whipped crème scented with orange and sprinkle it with vanilla beans—and I would make it vegan. So there!
This month’s dessert party was so fun. I did have a tiny taste of everything- all of those homey-flavored desserts were amazing- I’m totally NOT telling my favorite. Who wants to insult anyone’s mom, right? I loved that everyone got super excited when they saw chocolate mousse. A couple of people said it brought them back to childhood. The best part is that people seemed genuinely shocked that it was vegan and soy free at that! Thanks, Irvin and 18 Reasons for hosting DIY desserts. They’re always a blast. To see photos of May’s event, check out the gallery at the bottom of this page.
What is the best dessert your mom made? Do you have the recipe? Please share in the comments below!
- INGREDIENTS
- Two 16oz containers of Mimic Crème Healthy Top(very cold)
- 15 oz very good chocolate- I used a little 72% and a lot 85% (finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure orange flavor
- ½ vanilla bean scraped
- small amount of chocolate shavings for garnish
- INSTRUCTIONS
- chill your metal mixing bowl and beaters with the mimic crème in the freezer for 30 minutes
- set a bowl inside a pot of gently boiling water so it sits just above the water line. Lower to a simmer. Melt chocolate- stirring with a wooden spoon. As soon as chocolate is all melted, remove from heat and allow to come to room temperature.
- Place all of mimic créme into your chilled mixing bowl and beat on high for 3-5 minutes until medium peaks are formed.
- Scoop out ¼ of the mixture and place in a separate bowl (this will become whipped crème)
- Fold in ½ of the whipped mimic crème from the mixing bowl into the melted chocolate- gently folding until there are just some chocolate streaks remaining. Be very gentle.
- Fold in ½ of the remaining crème- again gently and being careful not to overmix
- And then the final amount of crème and mix until well combined. Scoop into your serving dish(es).
- Add the crème that you set aside back to the mixing bowl and add in the vanilla extract, vanilla bean, and orange extract. Beat for just a few seconds until the ingredients are combined.
- Top the mousse with the whipped crème and allow to set in the fridge for at least one hour (up to four)
- When ready to serve sprinkle with shaved chocolate or orange zest.
WOW this looks soo delicious! I'm loving your blog, so glad to be a new follower! 🙂
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for coming by!
Sabrina
That looks indeed delicious Sabrina! I wanna a grab a spoon and just dive in!
It is funny that I do not remember any dessert from my mom (shh..don't tell her) but I adored my grandma's baklava. It was a team effort that my grandparents put together. But she was the one who made the dough and rolled out 60 paper thin sheets, and layered them with walnuts or pistachios. My grandfather just cut the pieces very, very equally! I miss that homemade baklava a lot!
Thank you, Ilke. Do you make the baklava ever? I love it when I can taste a bit of rosewater in homemade baklava. Mmm. Such a sweet story about your grandmother making it and your grandfather cutting.
Hello!
I'm new one on your blog. I just found it about 10 minutes ago but I love your recipes especially because they are vegetarian and vegan. I'm between the vegetarian and vegan nutrition and I love finding new delicious recipes. I'll try this one for sure.
Thank you Zizi, and nice to meet you all the way from Hungary. I am part Hungarian myself (my father's mother). I hope you enjoy the vegan chocolate mousse. If you cannot find mimic creme in Hungary, you can substitute a mixture of soaked cashews and solid part of the coconut milk which you whip together when it is very cold. If you have questions, just email me.
Sabrina
woooow, This chocolate mousse looks incredibly delicious. Yum, yum 😀
This looks great – so I googled Mimic Creme and found their website. The FAQs said that "Mimic Creme" does not "whip" but that they had a new product called "Healthy Top" which sounds like it can be used for this recipe. Is that what you used for this? Thanks! I'd like to try it and have already researched where I can find it.
Hi Marcy,
I did use the healthy top. It's a really fun product.
Oh my God. This is the best thing that's come into my life for a long time. This is too delicious and wonderful and I think I'm going to cry. Thank you, Tomato Tart. I was looking for a chocolate mousse recipe and was wondering how to substitute the eggs and cream with the Healthy Top that I had in the fridge and googled your recipe. This is going to be the Happiest Valentine's Day ever. Yes, I made it for tomorrow's special V-day dinner but somebody had to lick the bowl and make sure it was okay, right? Again, Thank you.
Jo, I am so happy you\’ll be able to have chocolate mousse for Valentine\’s Day. You are so very welcome, but seriously, now you\’re making me cry. I\’m literally tearing up in my cube. I hope your night is amazing. Much love to you and yours.
Sabrina
Hi there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my
facebook group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Thanks