Toasted Coconut Chocolate Mousse

When I lived in Philadelphia I was fortunate enough to go to fancypants vegan restaurant Horizons* on more than one occasion, and the food totally blew my mind each time. This recipe for toasted coconut chocolate mousse comes from Horizons: New Vegan Cuisine, and it is absurdly delicious.

Rich, creamy and decadent, this is definitely a special occasion dessert. It makes a thick, dense chocolate mousse, rather than a light and fluffy one, so you could easily use it to make truffles. And it’s surprisingly simple to make.

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 2 hours 30 mins

Total time: 2 hours 30 mins

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

½ c flour
¼ tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
pinch salt
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup coconut milk
¾ Tbsp vegan butter
4 oz silken tofu
½ c unsweetened shredded coconut
chocolate syrup, optional

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
In a double-boiler or microwave, heat coconut milk and margarine until melted.
Add chocolate chips and stir until completely smooth.
In a blender, blend chocolate mixture and tofu until smooth.
Add half the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture; beat until smooth.
Add remaining chocolate mixture and beat until smooth.
Pour into a covered dish or deep bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Meanwhile, in an ungreased frying pan over medium heat, lightly toast coconut, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing burns.
Transfer coconut to a bowl to cool.
When mousse is set, scoop into balls of whatever size you prefer and toss in coconut flakes.
Plate with chocolate syrup, if desired.

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*For the serious restaurant-goers out there, Horizons closed in 2011, but the owners opened a new restaurant in its stead called Vedge.

11 comments

Johanna says:

Feb 11, 2013

The uncooked flour doesn’t taste weird?

claryn says:

Nope! It doesn’t do anything to the texture, either, besides thickening everything. You’d never know it’s in there.

Thanks for letting me know!!!

Emma says:

What an interesting recipe. The presentation looks super fancy. I think I’d go for a raspberry coulis instead of the choc syrup though 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

Hey, far be it from me to discourage anyone from pairing chocolate and raspberry! 😉

Gina says:

Feb 18, 2014

I can’t do soy. Any ideas for a sub for the tofu? Think avocado might work?

Feb 19, 2014

I haven’t tried substituting avocado for the tofu, but I think it’s a good bet that it would work. My guess is that the final product would be a bit softer than what’s pictured, but that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Let us know how it goes if you try it!

I went to Horizons once, too, and it was delicious, and I bought their cookbook. I own VEDGE now, too. I have to try this.

Selda says:

Mar 22, 2014

This looks incredible! Could I replace the regular flour for buckwheat flour though?

Mar 26, 2014

I don’t see why not, Selda. The flour is mostly just in there to thicken things up, so any neutral-tasting flour should be fine! Let me know how it turns out if you try it.

Maddie says:

Sep 29, 2014

I made this last night and it was – hands down – the best chocolate mousse I have ever had in my life.

I chilled my glass-blender carafe before mixing (on the “whip” setting) for 5 minutes straight…. then, transferred it to a stainless steel bowl before refridgerating… then served it in chilled glass cups.
Topped with homemade coconut-cream “cool whip” and strawberries on top.
let’s just say, my boyfriend was into it