Rich, decadent, chocolatey… and completely vegan! This mousse, which is dairy-, sugar-, and gluten-free, is one of the inspired desserts from a restaurant called Cafe Gratitude. A few unusual ingredients are needed, but oh, it’s worth it! The perfect Valentine’s Day dessert to make for your honey-bunny.
Raw Chocolate Mousse
Adapted from I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude
Makes 6 servings
1/2 oz (15 g) dried Irish moss seaweed
2 C. (470 ml) almond milk
1/4 C (66 g) dates (about 3)
1/4 C. (60 ml) agave syrup
6 T. (30 g) cocoa powder
1 T. (15 ml) vanilla
1 T. (12 g) lecithin*
1/2 C. (125 ml) raw coconut oil
After measuring the Irish moss, rinse it 3 or 4 times in water to remove the salt and sand; drain well. 
Cover with filtered water and let sit at least overnight. The Irish moss will double in size and become translucent, at which point it’s ready to use.
Drain the Irish moss and cut into small pieces; put in the blender with 1/2 C. (125 ml) filtered water. Blend on high about 3 minutes, until it’s a smooth, thick gel with no visible pieces of moss left.
Chop the dates into small pieces, discarding the date pits. Warm the coconut oil enough to liquify it.
Add the almond milk, dates, agave syrup, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth.
With the blender still running, slowly add the lecithin. Continue blending, adding the coconut oil in a steady stream.
Pour into a bowl or your serving dishes and refrigerate about an hour until set. Top with berries.
Decadent raw chocolate mousse
Ingredients
- 1/2 ounce Irish moss seaweed (dried)
- 2 cups almond milk
- 1/4 cup dates about 3 (66 g)
- 1/4 cup agave syrup
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder (30 g)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lecithin granules (12 g)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil raw, melted
Instructions
- After measuring the Irish moss, rinse it 3 or 4 times in water to remove the salt and sand; drain well.
- Cover with filtered water and let sit at least overnight. The Irish moss will double in size and become translucent, at which point it's ready to use.
- Drain the Irish moss and cut into small pieces; put in the blender with 1/2 C. (125 ml) filtered water. Blend on high about 3 minutes, until it's a smooth, thick gel with no visible pieces of moss left.
- Chop the dates into small pieces, discarding the date pits. Warm the coconut oil enough to liquify it.
- Add the almond milk, dates, agave syrup, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth.
- With the blender still running, slowly add the lecithin. Continue blending, adding the coconut oil in a steady stream.
- Pour into a bowl or your serving dishes and refrigerate about an hour until set. Top with berries.
Notes
- 276 calories
- 21 g fat
- 18 g saturated fat
- 0 g monounsaturated fat
- 0 g polyunsaturated fat
- 0 g trans fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 61 mg sodium
- 278 mg potassium
- 19 g carbohydrate
- 3 g fiber
- 5 g sugars
- 1 g protein
- 7 Weight Watchers Points Plus
[…] Raw Chocolate Mousse (inspired by the Café Gratitude […]
I made this today and just tasted it after more than 7hours in the fridge and it is super runny. I followed all the directions except don’t have a food scale so don’t know how much ½oz is so used ½ cup of soaked irish moss. HELP! How many cups of soaked irish moss for this recipe?
I am so very sorry that you did not have a great result with the recipe.You can see from the photo that it’s not a huge piece of moss. I haven’t made the recipe in 3 or 4 years so I can’t tell you exactly how big it was dried, but I am guessing about 1/4 cup if you cut it up and shoved it into a measuring cup. Once soaked overnight, you drain it well. It should now be translucent and free of sand. Then blend the drained moss with 1/2 cup of fresh filtered water. So it’s 1/2 cup of the moss mixture for the recipe. I hope this helps you.
You could definitely freeze your runny mixture to make ice cream. If you don’t have an ice cream machine, follow my instructions for making granita.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjTYDK8MQOU
I hope this helps. Thanks for writing and reading and trying recipes!
Stephanie
[…] Raw Chocolate Mousse (inspired by the Café Gratitude […]
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[…] – this recipe will answer your chocolate desires. Here is a link to the Chocolate Mousse recipe as posted on The Recipe Renovator website. There are some great recipes listed on that site […]
Looks delish! I just got Irish Moss yesterday, and prepped it this morning.I’ll be using it every morning in my smoothie, but can’t wait to try this too – I’m sure it would be just as delicious and creamy without the lecithin.
Great, let me know how it comes out. Smoothies are another great way to use the Irish moss…
How essential is the lecithin to the recipe?? And what IS lecithin? Is it a soy derivative?
Liz, I haven’t made this without lecithin, which is a soy product. I will be looking at other versions of recipes in the future that don’t include lecithin, as it is fairly highly processed. You could try agar (see my comment below). Thanks for your comment!
Very interesting recipe. Never cooked with Irish moss either.
I do have all of the other ingredients in my kitchen. I like that you used coconut oil, one of my favorite ingredients for baking.
Thanks Barb. Once you try Irish moss you’ll start finding other places to use it. I’m thinking tapioca pudding next.
You definitely got me interested now. I think I’ll pick some up at our food coop today.
Great site by the way, love that you try to make healthier versions of existing recipes. It’s similar to what I do with some of my own recipes. They’re not all gluten and sugar-free but I take a similar approach.
Have fun! Note that you need to soak it at least overnight before using it, as in the photo. And rinse it like crazy. It’s usually covered in sand, au naturel. Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it!
Hi again,
Just came back from our local health food store and they only had Irish moss that looked more like dried herbs, not at all like the picture above. Do you think any type of Irish moss would be ok or can I use a different thickener altogether?
Thanks!
Hmmm. I would need to do a little bit of internet searching before answering. You could try a very small amount of agar agar (like, 1 t. of agar flakes) cooked with 3 T. water until it swells up. You might end up more with a very firm pudding vs. a mousse.
There is a plant called Irish moss that is completely different, not a seaweed. The seaweed’s proper name is Chondrus crispus.
Wow, this post is so interesting! I’ve never heard of Irish Moss, does it work a bit like agar agar?
And that mousse looks delicious – plus I can probably it eat it! I’m not vegan or sugarfree but I do have medical problems that cause me to be unable to have a whole lot of fat so it’s difficult for me to adapt regular mousse recipes that are full of regular chocolate. This recipe though, I might be able to work with! Thank you!
xoxo
– Eve
Hi Eve,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, the Irish moss does act a bit like agar, which is also a seaweed. Agar is more like gelatin, firming everything. This stuff creates much more of a fluffy mousse or pudding quality. This is not a low fat dessert because of the coconut oil, but you might be able to use less oil and make it work. Keep me posted!
Best, Stephanie