Now we love Quirky Cooking’s raw vegan chocolate mousse, which is my quick ‘go to’ dessert that always hits the spot.   This Chocolate Mousse Pudding, however, needs to be prepared a little ahead of time and refrigerated to form a rich and dense mousse.   It’s one that I adapted from a recipe I spotted on the back of a pack, then added my own variations and thermified.  You can add as little or more sweetener to suit your taste-buds.  See tips for nut and grain-free options at the end.

Grind for 1 minute / speed 9:

• 50g brown rice
• Peel of one orange, without the white pith (I use a vegetable peeler) – optional, but it adds a lovely jaffa flavour

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add and then set to cook for 7 minutes / speed 4 / 90 degs:

• 50g coconut oil
• 400g almond milk or other preferred milk
• 50g dates and a big squirt of maple or rice syrup – add more to taste.  You could even add a banana for extra sweetness, if you wanted to
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
• Pinch salt

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add and cook for another 1 minute / speed 4 / 90 degs:

• 80g dark chocolate, broken up into chunks (I’ve tried both 70% and 85% – the latter will add more of a bitter taste),

Ensure all the mixture is combined , taste for sweetness and blend in more maple or rice syrup, if necessary, then pour into sundae glasses.

Cover and refrigerate until solidified and ‘moussey’.

Tips:

• Instead of sundae glasses, you could also use jelly moulds, then tip out onto a plate, once solidified, and sprinkle with dessicated coconut and decorate with a strawberry or raspberry.  This is especially good if you’ve had a ‘skin’ develop on top of the mousse while cooling in the fridge.
• Alternatively, add more milk in the second step and serve straightaway as a hot chocolate custard.
• I make a lot of almond milk, so have a constant supply of left-over almond pulp.  Of late, I’ve been saving this up and then dehydrating.  So, for a grain-free option, use the dehydrated almond pulp and mill this into a flour with the orange peel in step one.
• For a nut and grain-free option, use coconut milk instead of almond milk and use tapioca or arrowroot flour to thicken (I haven’t tried and tested this method yet though)