Sort of, kind of, almost healthy chocolate mousse? Well. Sort of. Or perhaps I should say, comparatively speaking. There are so many recipes for chocolate mousse, my most favourite, back in the heady days when I believed I could eat dairy, was an absolute confection of chocolate anglaise, infused with liquor and set with my body weight in cream. Alas, those days are no more, but that is not to say I can not create something similar within my new parameters......
This has a more jelly like texture than a traditional chocolate mousse, so I guess it is more like a blancmange than a mousse, but it is my sort of, kind of, almost healthy dessert, so I shall call it what I like.
Ingredients
100g medjool dates, pitted with the stem button removed
200ml boiling water
300ml almond milk
1 sachet Jel-it-in*
100g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70%)
3 tablespoons coconut cream
Soak the medjool dates in the boiling water for at least two hours, purée into a smooth, thick liquid.
Place the almond milk (better use store bought for this one, homemade could split, or if you are not dairy free you could use cow’s milk) in a medium sized pot and sprinkle on the Jel-it-in (*vegetarian alternative to gelatine, you can use gelatine instead if you want, but I am making recipes for a couple of vegetarians at the moment so I am using a readily available vegetarian alternative), stir thoroughly until the powder has dissolved, then break the chocolate into bits and put that in, turn the heat on to low, stir, stir, stir until the chocolate has dissolved, if it tries to thicken too early on the bottom, take it off the heat, give it a good stir and then put it back on.
Stir in your date goo, turn heat up a smudge, stir, stir, stir until the mixture begins to boil, simmer for about a minute and then remove from heat. Pop a spoonful of the mix into a small container and pop it into the freezer, check it after a minute, has it set? Or is it setting? If not, put it back on the heat, simmer for another 30 seconds, if yes, stir in the coconut cream (or regular cream if you are not dairy intolerant) and pour into ramekins or small bowls. This will make enough for four if you are feeling generous, or one huge bowl just for you if you are not.