There are a couple reasons why people look for no egg mousse recipes. First off all, vegans look for them so they can make mousse that suits their diet. Secondly, many people worry about the fact that many types of mousse contain raw egg whites, which could potentially lead to salmonella. This is especially important for pregnant women.
Why Most Mousse Recipes Use Eggs
The egg whites in the mousse serve to make the dessert light and fluffy. Without the egg, or a proper egg substitute, the mousse would at best be the consistency of pudding. At worst it would be too thick to even scoop out of the bowl.
Finding No Egg Mousse Recipes
Since there is a pretty big demand for these mousse recipes, there is no shortage of them available. A few Web sites that have them are as follows:
- Organic LoveToKnow: This organic vegan chocolate mousse uses tofu as a primary ingredient.
- Indobase.com: This recipe substitutes the eggs with heavy cream.
- Bigoven.com: This one uses gelatin, but vegetarians can substitute agar or carageenan.
- Allrecipes.com: This one uses marshmallows, which can be either regular ones or vegan ones.
Altering Traditional Recipes
While no egg mousse recipes that are meant to be that way are usually the easiest for beginners to try, once people get experienced in making mousse, they can start substituting the eggs in ones that traditionally require them. In addition to the substitutes mentioned in the recipes above, others to try are cornstarch (two tablespoons per egg), bananas (one per egg) and Ener-G egg substitute. Note that the bananas will flavor the mousse somewhat but can be a good complement to the chocolate. Resist the urge to use applesauce. It will make the mousse lumpy, chunky and unpalatable.
Vegan No Egg Mousse Recipe
While it is easy to find mousse recipes that don't use eggs, it can be hard to find one that is naturally vegetarian or vegan, without substitutions. Here is one such recipe. It requires 12 ounces of silken tofu, a 10 ounce bag of dark chocolate chips, 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2.5 tablespoons of maple syrup.
- Press and drain the tofu overnight to eliminate the water.
- Put the tofu in a large mixing bowl and stir it until it is the consistency of pudding.
- Pour the chocolate chips into a saucepan and add a quarter cup of vegetable oil. Stir until they are melted. Then take them off the heat.
- Pour in the maple syrup and continue stirring.
- Add the mixture to the tofu and blend with the electric mixer to get out any lumps.
- Chill the mousse in the refrigerator for one hour. Then serve.
Those who want a healthier mousse can skip the vegetable oil. The mousse will be a little thicker, but it will still taste fine.
More Options
There's no need to eat the eggless mousse on its own when the following variations make it taste even better:
- Adding fresh mint leaves and whipped topping
- Layering the mousse with whipped topping and graham cracker crumbs to make a parfait dessert
- Using the mousse as an icing for cakes or cookies
- Pouring the mousse into a pie crust to make an easy chocolate pie
- Garnishing the mousse with strawberries, raspberries or blueberries
Considerations
While chocolate is definitely the most popular flavor of mousse, there is no limit to the flavors that can be used. Some to consider are strawberry, orange and raspberry. Just substitute diced fruit for the chocolate chips. Remember to stir well so the flavor gets dispersed evenly. To make the mousse vanilla flavored, all it takes is vanilla extract to taste.
