Chocolate mousse is one of my favourite all time desserts. Granted, I feel like I say this just about every time someone mentions a dessert but truly, it would be my choice for my last dessert on earth.
You can imagine my grievance when I was told by my Naturopath that eggs, dairy, histamines, sulfur rich foods, some meats and gluten were now a no-go-zone in my everyday diet. I was ready to tell her she’s dreaming… And for the first few days while I was coming to terms with this entirely dreadful news, I nearly did!
It’s been nearly 6 months on this strict diet and during that time I’ve been dabbling into the world of plant-based alternative cooking and I’ll be completely honest, in the beginning it was ghastly. I really struggled with losing the freedom that I so cherished in my food. I also cherish having energy and regular bowel movements but that’s not a conversation to be had amidst a food blog. So, it pushed me into really experimenting and searching out sweet replacements for the desserts I love so dearly.
Specifically in regards to chocolate mousse, I learnt quickly that adding avocado - who I have no beef with, honestly… She just doesn’t belong in my mousse, okay? - was not cutting it for an alternative. Chickpeas can also scoot on down to the pits of hell alongside the recipe-creator who suggested it as a good substitute…
I had all but given up on finding something that wasn’t grainy, bitter or tasteless until I stumbled across a lady on TikTok mentioning how chocolate and coconut yogurt had the ability to loosely set when blended together. BINGO!
So here you have it folks. A mousse that - yes - isn’t as rich or as decadent as the one I used to make and would still happily push a small child over to get to, but it’s as close as I can get it. In the recipe I have used a Greek style coconut yogurt. This is simply because my diet still requires me to cut out refined sugars, artificial flavourings and basically anything yummy and thus couldn’t use Greek yogurt’s more fun, sweeter sister - vanilla coconut yogurt. But hey, you win some you lose some. Besides, I actually think the Greek yogurt’s tang brings something a bit unique to the flavour profile.
I hope this recipe can bring a bit of inspiration back to anyone who might be struggling with a diet change or even to those poor souls who have a dairy allergy. It’s got simple ingredients and is entirely easy to make, even easier than my OG mousse recipe.
Give it a try and see how you go!
