Chocolate & Cherry Mousse

author:Susannah White
Dessert
15Mins
8people
Chocolate & Cherry Mousse
Description
Made by my ten year old son, this mousse is light and sweet - not too sweet, though.  It uses 'aqua faba' (the cooking water from a carton of chickpeas) to make a light texture.

Cherries are blended into the mousse as well as being used to decorate.
Ingredients
  • 250g cashews soaked in cold water for about two hours
  • 250g dates soaked in boiled water for about two hours
  • 3 tbsp cacao powder
  • About 25 stone-free cherries
  • Aqua faba drained from one tin or carton of cooked chickpeas 
Directions
  1. Drain and rinse the cashews.  Blend them with the aqua faba until fairly smooth.
  2. Drain, rinse and check the dates.  Add them, the cacao powder and most of the cherries and blend together until smooth.
  3. Divide into individual pots or one large bowl.  Decorate with remaining cherries and place in fridge for at least two hours to chill.

Same Category

Dessert
Passionfruit and Mango Tart
30Mins
10people
Passionfruit and Mango Tart
The difficulty in writing recipes using natural wholefoods is that they vary so much!  I could, for example, say to use two mangoes but you could have enormous mangoes available or only small ones - they might be ripe and sweet or hard and sour.  It's a dilemma.

The outcome of this tart will depend very much on the sweetness of your mangoes and whether or not your passionfruits are truly ripe.  It's absolutely possible to make this tart conforming completely to WFPB principles or there are a couple of cheeky cheats that I detail in the recipe.
Dessert
Chocolate & Cherry Mousse
15Mins
8people
Chocolate & Cherry Mousse
Made by my ten year old son, this mousse is light and sweet - not too sweet, though.  It uses 'aqua faba' (the cooking water from a carton of chickpeas) to make a light texture.

Cherries are blended into the mousse as well as being used to decorate.
Dessert
White Chocolate and Raspberry Torte
30Mins
12people
White Chocolate and Raspberry Torte
A cool, sweet dessert with a rich dark chocolate and walnut base, a creamy white chocolate filling and a sharp raspberry powder to finish.  This dish is plant-based but not completely whole-foods.  It is rather decadent and not suitable for anyone trying to lose weight or reverse heart disease.

However, being packed with cashews, walnuts, cacao and dates, there's plenty of good nutrients for an occasional treat.
Dessert
Nut-free Whole-foods Plant-based Brownie
60Mins
10people
Nut-free Whole-foods Plant-based Brownie
Back in the summer this year my son requested a WFPB birthday cake, so I created a chocolate cake based on a brownie recipe. The main ingredient? Sweet potato.

It’s not that easy to get sweet potatoes into our family’s diet, but with the equivalent of half a potato in each portion of this brownie, it’s a winner all round. There are no complaints about eating them this way. Whatsoever. From anyone.
 

But…why the obsession with sweet potatoes? Well, for a start in Okinawa, known to be a ‘Blue Zone’ due to the longevity of its population, sweet potatoes used to make up 69% of calories consumed. The life and health expectancy were amazing - unfortunately it’s changing there at the moment and statistics are proving that the old ways were the best for the Okinawans - before the fast food places were introduced.

A lot of research has been done on sweet potatoes and their benefits - including slowing down the spread of cancer cells. They are really high in anti-oxidants and represent fantastic value for money.

My original recipe contained nuts, but as not everyone can have nuts I decided to experiment and see if it tasted as good if I substituted the almonds with sunflowers: success. It tastes amazing. Must go and get another slice!

One slice (about a 10th of the brownie) provides (based on the requirements for a small woman):

23% of daily fibre requirement
12% of protein
11% of iron
9% of vitamin C
13% of zinc
…lots more, including a massive dose of vitamin A