Vegan Chocolate Mousse Strawberries
Denise Vasi
Vegan Chocolate Mousse Strawberries are a great treat. Veganizing” traditional recipes is one of my favorite kitchen pastimes and it’s even more fun when I can get my friends in on it. Who doesn’t love a good challenge, right? Lucky for me, one of my besties is a chef that specializes in savory American cooking.
While Janette, aka Puttie, chef & founder of Simply PUTT, is best known for her soy-braised short ribs, she has a knack for understanding composition in all kinds of recipes. During one of our champagne-filled late nights, we explored this low-glycemic dessert she was serving for a client with strict dietary restrictions.
There were two ingredients on the list that posed an issue for me: the dark chocolate and the canned coconut milk.
Ingredients
- Strawberries
- ¾ cup cashews
- ¼ cup filtered water
- ¼ cup unsweetened cacao
- ½ tsp maple syrup
- ¼ cup chopped hazelnuts
- dash of salt
Cacao was an easy substitute for the dark chocolate; it actually added a depth to the mousse that we both loved but what about the canned coconut milk? After whipping up some homemade coconut milk and testing it out we both agreed the consistency just wasn’t there. So in a pinch, I quickly whipped up a thick cashew cream that gave this vegan mousse the consistency it needed.
Chef Puttie approved and just like that we had the perfect indulgent treat:
80% good for you, 20% good to you.
When shopping for ingredients, read carefully. Be mindful you pick up cacao. I point this out because cocoa can easily end up in your shopping cart by accident, like it ended up in ours. Hee! Hee!
Cashew Cream
Soak cashews overnight or for at least 3 hours.
Drain cashews and rinse with cold water.
In a high-speed blender, blend cashews with filtered water.
Vegan Chocolate Mousse
Combine your cashew cream, cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt.
Mix until completely combined using a silicone spatula or mixer.
Refrigerate chocolate mousse for 20 minutes.
Strawberries
Remove the top of the strawberry with a paring knife. Create a hole in the center and proceed to shape a cone into the strawberry.
Put the chocolate mousse in a piping bag (in a pinch you could use a disposable sandwich bag, just snip one of the corners).
Pipe the mousse into strawberries.
Finely chop hazelnuts.
Roll the mousse (tops of strawberries) in the chopped hazelnuts.
Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Enjoy your Vegan Chocolate Mousse Strawberries!
Janette Clark, founder of Simply PUTT, specializes in home service, meal prep, classes and private events. You can follow her culinary work on Instagram at @chefputtie.
