Recipe: Maple Mandarin Orange Chocolate Mousse (or Hot Chocolate)

Yesterday, I accidentally discovered the best non-dairy hot chocolate recipe. How you ask? Easy. While I was making chocolate mousse for my last Souvenir Foto School assignment.
 

 

Our class started with a chocolate mousse recipe made from cream, bittersweet chocolate chips, and honey. When I saw the recipe, I knew immediately I'd be reinterpreting it. With a baby in the house we don't have any honey in the pantry; swap light Agave. I'm allergic to dairy, so swap coconut milk (not the stuff that comes in boxes, but the thick coconut milk from Thailand that comes in cans) and baker's chocolate with a little maple syrup for the bittersweet chocolate chips.
 

Vegan Hot Chocolate or Chocolate Mousse

• 1 1/2 cups, Mae Ploy Coconut Milk
• 1 Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Dark Chocolate (99% Cacao) Baking Bar, finely grated
• 3 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Light Agave Nectar
• 1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Maple Syrup
• 1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Mandarin Orange juice, freshly squeezed

Heat coconut milk over low heat in heavy bottomed pan. Add rest of ingredients. Stir until chocolate has melted completely and mixture is smooth. Take care not to let the coconut milk boil as it will scald and separate. For hot chocolate, serve immediately. For chocolate mousse, pour into molds and refrigerate for two to three hours until set.
 

Not being familiar with the chemistry behind a mousse (will have to read up on it), I had my fingers crossed that my concoction would set up. I knew that the fat in the coconut milk solidifies at room temperature as the water separates out so this was less risky that choosing Soy Milk or other non-dairy alternative. I almost didn't find out. After I had combined all the ingredients and melted the grated chocolate into the coconut milk and sampled the mixture, I wanted to pour to mugs of hot chocolate and spend a lazy morning watching TV with my husband. I did in my excitement wake him up to sample a tablespoon full.
 

Have you tried using coconut milk in your hot chocolate?
 

 

The best part about my discovery? The ingredients are always in my pantry! (In winter, you could substitute freshly squeezed orange juice or for adults, Cointreau or Grand Marnier.)
 

This photo shoot was the toughest of the four; keeping the mousse from perspiring and the Maldon Sea Salt from melting was challenging. (By the way, chocolate and sea salt? Amazing flavor combination. How did I not discover this flavor explosion until recently?) I was constantly switching the mousse in and out of the refrigerator. Other photos are on Flickr.
 

I hope you had a fun weekend. Are you ready for the Mindful Consumer Challenge on Wednesday? It's going to be great; join Gretchen of What Arabella Did, Vanessa of Finding that Place Called Home, Becca of The Dabblist, Wendy of Tales of Two, and others as we focus on being happy with what we have.
 

Bon Appetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.