Let me establish something right off the bat: This paleo chocolate mousse does not taste like straight up coconut cream.
I get it, I get it. Coconut cream thickens nicely. Coconut cream tastes good with chocolate. Coconut cream is easy to turn into a mousse.
But it’s easy to get tired of coconut cream mousse. Sometimes you just want regular, honest, silky smooth chocolate mousse that doesn’t even hint of coconut.
Yes, I use coconut cream in this recipe, but, no, you can’t taste it.
This mousse is smooth and creamy and ultra rich. The chocolate flavor is intense–for serious chocolate lovers only. If you don’t think you can take it, sub the 100% chocolate for a sweetened paleo chocolate of your choosing. I’ll try not to judge you for it.
By the way, if you are eating paleo you probably shop at Whole Foods or some other health store or you at least understand about the healthy food craze. If that’s the case and if you happen to be in need of some entertainment at the moment, I’m guessing you’ll enjoy this youtube video. My family sure did.
My favorite line from the video: “This chocolate is made from 10 percent cacao…and 90 percent the dirt the beans were grown in.”
Maybe next time I make this mousse I should use that chocolate. Just to pretend that I’m really hardcore.
Gluten-free and paleo chocolate mousse that is silky smooth and intensely chocolate.
2 tablespoons honey (for a very bittersweet, intense chocolate mousse, use only 1 tablespoon)
4 ounces of 100% chocolate
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cocoa
½ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
2 pasteurized eggs or eggs that you feel you can safely eat raw. I used chicken eggs fresh from our chicken house.
1 tsp maple syrup or melted honey (for eggs)
1 1/2 tablespoons thick coconut milk (I used the hardened fat from refrigerated canned coconut milk but any thick coconut milk should work)
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Put the honey, chocolate, water, cocoa, and espresso powder in a bowl. Place over a small saucepan filled with about 1 inch of barely simmering water. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.
Stir the chocolate mix frequently as the chocolate slowly melts. It’s important to keep it at a low temperature because the chocolate burns very easily.
As the chocolate melts, separate the eggs into two bowls.
Beat the egg yolks with the maple syrup or honey until light colored and thickened (about 1 minute).
Gently pour the melted chocolate mixture into the beaten egg yolks and beat until smooth. Stir in the coconut cream.
Clean off your mixers, then beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until thick and foamy with soft peaks, meaning that when you pull the mixers out of the egg whites, the egg whites stand up yet still fold down a little bit. See the image below the recipe to see what egg whites with soft peaks should look like.
Spoon about a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate/egg yolk mixture and stir until combined.
Using a rubber spatula, very gently fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate/egg yolk mixture. Continue to fold until no streaks remain.
Spoon the mousse into 2 individual dishes or ramekins. As you can see in the images, the dishes I used were rather small, so I actually had 3 mousses, not 2. But if you use regular sized ramekins you should have two servings.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour before eating. You can have these with nuts or whipped cream or plain.
This post is linked to Gluten Free Wednesdays!
What egg whites beaten to soft peaks should look like:
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These paleo mousse.. looks awesome! I just love how rich and decadent it is whilst containing relatively healthy ingredients!
This mousse is absolutely gorgeous and it looks delish!
Thank you!
I made it without the coconut because I’ve tried coconut milk and cream in some recipes and it just takes out the flavor for me, and it turned out a bit darker, but still very delicious.
These look just FANTASTIC and your pictures are beautiful!!!! Thanks for sharing this at Gluten Free Wednesdays 🙂
-Cassidy
Hi Linnaea,
I came across your Paleo Chocolate Mousse recipe and would love to feature it in a list of paleo recipes I am writing for Life by Daily Burn (dailyburn.com/life).
The article would simply list the title of the recipe and a little blurb about it, linking back to your blog for the actual recipe — and I’d love to feature one of your gorgeous photos above the blurb! I’ll be sure to credit the photo and recipe to you. Let me know if this sounds OK to you!
Thanks,
Kate
That sounds fine, Katie! You’re welcome to use any of the pictures.
This mousse looks incredible, Linnaea! I can’t wait to give a try! I was just reading the instructions and came across a question. You said the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Did you mean the top? Sorry if I’m missing something, I just can’t figure out how you would be able to not get the bottom to touch. Thanks!
Hi Sarah, sorry I was unclear in the directions!
I usually have my double boiler set up about like this: https://makeastoryco.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/double-boiler.jpg. The bowl is so much bigger than the pan that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the inch or so of water in the pan. I’ve seen people use bowls that are small enough to just float on the surface of the water, though, and apparently it works for them! I guess you could do it either way. 🙂
This is great! I usually don’t comment, but this is the first paleo dessert I’ve ever made that my mom actually really liked!
That’s awesome, Ashley. It was the first paleo dessert I’ve made that my Mom actually liked as well. I’ve made it for her many times since then. 🙂
I would love to know how on earth does the nibs melt & long till they melt? mine took far too long to melt so I threw them out & just used 100% cocoa dark chocolate block was so much easier…
Hi Karen,
I don’t use any cocoa nibs in this recipe–just 100% chocolate chopped into small chunks. Sorry for the confusion!
How many calories is each serving?
Hey Pamela, depending on the size of your eggs/the richness of your coconut milk, it should be around 180 calories per serving!