Vegan hazelnut mousse

Vegan hazelnut mousse

vegan hazelnut mousse backlit

It may seem weird that Nutella – this iconic 80s hazelnut spread – reminds me of Christmas given that I grew up in a communist country whose empty shop shelves could only dream of such Western luxuries. One way or another, my maternal Gran – who was famous in my family for her love of nuts, chocolate and coffee (I have her tastebuds!) – always managed to get her hands on a couple of jars and Nutella is what I would often find under my Xmas tree or under my pillow on 6th of December (St Claus day).

One year, my brother, my cousins and I got Nutella jars as big as our heads and to everyone’s astonishment we polished them off in less than a week despite our parents trying to teach us a bit of moderation and pacing. It did not work and as this was our Xmas present, we got our way. I know most people spread it on toast, but we cut out the middle man and ate it with a spoon straight from the jar! This is perhaps why I still show little restraint around desserts – love in my family was the taste of a chocolate and hazelnut spread…

So when I was in London this past weekend, my friend introduced me to a vegan Nutella-like spread that she discovered and I was thrilled as I haven’t had anything like that in years. I got myself a jar under the guise of recipe development 😉 (I’ve hidden them from myself) and the flavour reminded me of a recipe I have had in my notes for ages, a Nutella-inspired chocolate mousse.

I considered making it with my purchase but then decided to make it from staple ingredients instead as I don’t want anyone who cannot get hold of a good vegan hazelnut chocolate spread to miss out, plus, their texture tends to rely on palm oil (which even if labelled as ‘sustainably sourced’ can be problematic) and I know that many people aren’t keen on it.

This mousse is an amalgamation of my earlier recipes (for peanut butter mousse, chocolate mousse and chocolate caramel mousse) so if hazelnuts and chocolate aren’t your thing (who are you!?) – check them out instead.

This dessert is airy and light yet deliciously nutty and chocolatey at the same time. It isn’t difficult to make and the two key skills are making a chocolate ganache and folding said ganache into whipped aquafaba with a bit of care. I’ve given you many helpful tips below, which, if you follow them, will enable you to knock this one out of the park (like my sport obsessed hubby tends to say) and wow your dinner guests, regardless of their stance on veganism.

vegan hazelnut mousse hazelnut butter

vegan hazelnut mousse ingredients

vegan hazelnut mousse making

vegan hazelnut mousse folding

vegan hazelnut mousse set

vegan hazelnut mousse tray

vegan hazelnut mousse spoon

vegan hazelnut chocolate mousse

serves
5-6
PREP
20 min
COOKING
5 min
serves
5-6
PREPARATION
20 min
COOKING
5 min
INGREDIENTS
HAZELNUT MOUSSE

  • 100 g / 3½ oz dark vegan chocolate* (I use 70% cacao)
  • 120 g / ½ cup smooth hazelnut butter, shop-bought or see below
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup vegan single cream (I used Oatly) or canned coconut milk (full fat)
  • 30-45 ml / 2-3 tbsp maple syrup or caster (superfine) sugar
  • 160 ml / 2/3 cup aquafaba (chickpea brine)
  • ½ tsp lemon juice or white vinegar
  • a pinch of salt

DECORATION (optional)

  • chopped hazelnuts
  • chocolate shavings
  • vegan whipped cream (like coconut cream), for example

HOMEMADE HAZELNUT BUTTER*

  • 250 g / 8¾ oz unroasted hazelnuts

METHOD
HAZELNUT MOUSSE

  1. Chop chocolate up finely and measure out hazelnut butter (make sure it’s room temperature) and keep it handy.
  2. Place chopped chocolate together with single cream and maple syrup (if using sugar, hold) in a metal or glass bowl suspended over a pot of water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Warm up the water on a very low heat (chocolate is very sensitive to overheating, which is why I don’t recommend using a microwave to melt it). When the water barely starts to simmer, switch the heat off but keep the bowl on the pot.
  3. Once the chocolate looks melted, very gently and slowly stir it into the other ingredient(s). Stir as little as you can (dark chocolate in particular is very sensitive to overstirring).
  4. Once incorporated, gently and slowly stir in hazelnut butter. You should end up with a shiny homogenous ganache (SEE NOTES for troubleshooting). Keep the bowl over the warm pot until ready to use.
  5. Put aquafaba, lemon juice and salt in a large, spotlessly clean (grease residue inhibits aquafaba from reaching stiff peaks) bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip aquafaba until it reaches stiff peaks – to check turn the bowl upside down and the mixture should not slide. It takes about 5 minutes with a handheld mixer.
  6. If using SUGAR (instead of maple syrup), whisk it into the whipped aquafaba at this point, tablespoon by tablespoon, whipping well after each addition so that the sugar melts into the meringue mixture.
  7. Wipe the bottom of the bowl with ganache so that water droplets don’t end up in your aquafaba and ensure chocolate ganache is just barely warm. Add approximately a third of it to the bowl of aquafaba. Using a slow folding motion, incorporate the ganache into the aquafaba gently. Incorporate the other two thirds in the same manner, being very gentle and slow so that you don’t knock too much air out of the aquafaba. The mixture will deflate a fair bit before you are done – that’s normal – but it should still be very mousse-y and airy (full of tiny bubbles) when you are done.
  8. Pour the mixture into glasses, giving the mixture a gentle stir between each portion. Once in glasses, use a toothpick to gently stir the mixture once more.
  9. Set in the fridge overnight (or 8 hours) to set.
  10. Decorate and serve. You can make it a day or two ahead but once set, keep in an air-tight container in the fridge or else the mousse will dry out too much.

HOMEMADE HAZELNUT BUTTER

  1. Preheat the oven to 160° C / 320° F and spread hazelnuts on a large baking tray. Bake until fragrant, bursting out of their skins and lightly golden. Start checking after 12 minutes (they usually take about 15 but it depends on how dry the nuts were to begin with).
  2. Place warm hazelnuts inside a clean kitchen towel and rub between your hands to loosen up most of the skins. Pick out the hazelnuts and place in a food processor.
  3. Process hazelnuts, scraping down the sides from time to time, until they turn into hazelnut butter. In my old Kenwood, it takes about 8 minutes. Transfer to a jar and keep in the fridge.

NOTES
*CHOCOLATE: Use sugar-free dark chocolate (there are bars sweetened with dates, for example) for 100 % refined sugar-free version of this dessert.

*HAZELNUT BUTTER: 250 g / 8¾ oz of hazelnuts yields approximately 1 cup (240 g) of hazelnut butter. I found that this is a minimal amount of nuts that will allow your food processor (unless you have a mini one) to churn. If you love hazelnut butter, I recommend doubling the amount of nuts.

SEIZED CHOCOLATE: Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is a very sensitive ingredient. It can seize (get lumpy, grainy and greasy) due to being heated too fast, for too long, due to too much stirring, due to coming in contact with water, due to the temperature difference between the ingredients or sometimes, annoyingly, for no reason at all. If your ganache seizes despite taking all of the precautions, you can bring it back by vigorously stirring a little bit (the less the better) of boiling water into it. I find that 2-4 tbsp does the trick usually. Start with 2 tbsp, add more if needed.

This recipe makes approximately: 5 x ¾ cup / 180 ml portions. The mousse is quite rich so it could easily stretch to 6 portions.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
246
12%
sugars
10 g
11%
fats
18 g
26%
saturates
7 g
35%
proteins
5 g
10%
carbs
19 g
7%
*per serving
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5.0
5 reviews, 17 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Rae:
I'm confused by this direction: "Once the chocolate looks melted, very gently and slowly stir it into the other ingredient(s)". The cream and syrup/sugar are listed as going in with the chocolate in step 2, and the hazelnut butter is in step 4. What ingredient(s) are being added in step 3? Thank you :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Rae,
    See point 2: Place chopped chocolate together with single cream and maple syrup (if using sugar, hold) in a metal or glass bowl suspended over a pot of water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Warm up the water on a very low heat (chocolate is very sensitive to overheating, which is why I don’t recommend using a microwave to melt it). When the water barely starts to simmer, switch the heat off but keep the bowl on the pot. - this is what you need to give a gentle stir once the chocolate looks melted. I hope this makes sense and that you'll enjoy it. Ania
Yes, being from Poland myself, can tell the truth is, the shelves in communist Poland wouldn’t have been empty if not for the Western European countries witholding goods from the communist (in fact socialist!) country just because it wasn’t capitalist. Like from many other socialist countries belonging to ‘Eastern Block’. No country can thrive without food imports. It was an ideological fight to make the political system to collapse. It wasn’t until it collapsed, that Poland was flooded with goods including vile Coca-Cola and the likes. We now live in capitalist countries and what? Millions of people in the UK living in in-work poverty and having to use foodbanks? Some unable to afford to rent live in tents and are being demonised for it by political class? We know socialism is about fairness and equality - what greedy capitalists don’t like.
    Ania
    Ania:
    I hear you, it was frustrating to grow up with so little but to be completely honest with you I don't think either of these systems work. I mean communism was a massive distortion of socialist ideals and, in practice, it was an oppressive system to live in - I do sometimes wonder what opportunities would we have if we didn't grow up in it and what kind of people we would be now. Ania
Anna:
Delicious!! Will make again :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thanks so, much - really appreciate it. x Ania
Anna:
Hi Ania, looking forward to making this recipe! Could I use peanut butter instead of hazelnut?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Yes, absolutely you can - I recommend smooth PB, or if you want PB to truly shine, make this mousse instead... Hope this helps! x Ania
      Anna:
      Great thank you for the reply, made it yesterday (with peanut butter instead of hazelnut) and it was delicious! Looking forward to trying it again when I can find reasonably priced hazelnut butter.
        Ania
        Ania:
        I am delighted to hear that Anna! Yes, hazelnut version is really something. Did you know that making your own hazelnut (any nut) butter at home is dead easy and cheaper btw? Here is how. x Ania
Krastina:
Can this mousse be put into freezer? Would love to try it out as a layer in Buche de Noel.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Krastina,
    Yes, I freequently freeze the excess and enjoy like ice-cream. x Ania
Lori Trochim:
You're my hero! And a hero to all the animals you keep from being eaten. YAAY FOR YOU!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw, thank you, that's kind of you! x Ania
Manuela:
This was absolutely wonderful, heavenly delightful chocolate nutty. Loved it! It was my first time working with aquafaba and I couldn't believe how easy it was to work with. This will become a staple when having friends over as its so impressive yet so quick to get ready.
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm delighted to hear that, Manuela! I'm so happy to hear that you found it easy to work wit as all. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Catherine Reuscher:
This looks stupendous. As an aside, there’s a brand of vegan Nutella in the US and I’ve been adding it to hot cocoa- so yummy
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Catherine. Nutella-spiked hot chocolate does sound indeed dreamy :) x Ania
Marion:
Looks delicious. Can you use soy, oat or almond milk instead of the oat or coconut cream?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Marion. Ideally you want something fattier. Plant milk will work if your chocolate does not seize but if it does, you'll need to add hot water to bring it back and that may render the mousse a bit thin (as plant milk also has high percentage of water). If you are experienced in working with dark chocolate, I would say go ahead. x Ania
JANE:
I'm lucky enough to be able to buy a hazelnut vegan non palm oil spread, but it's so expensive I agree that starting from scratch is better! I might half cheat and buy pre-made hazelnut butter though, because my food processor isn't that good and will probs blow up if i try and make nut butter with it. Thank you for all the helpful info on chocolate seizing and aquafaba needing to be pristine. These are things I've only found out accidentally and so much more useful if the recipe maker points to these things in advance. hope your festive thing goes well! xx
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Jane,
    Yes, there is absolutely no shame in using shop-bought nut butter and I only just include the recipe for those people who cannot find it in shops where they live and because it is so easy to make. Re: food processors, you really don't need a top notch food processor for this. I, in fact, have quite an old and rickety Kenwood and it whips it up in 5 minutes tops so I would try (if you fancy it, of course) before writing it off. Roasting hazelnuts makes them less hard so they are easier to grind too. Anyhow, I hope you'll enjoy this indulgent dessert as much as we did. x Ania
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