Light and fluffy Summer Berry Mousse Cups – fresh strawberries, raspberries, coconut and lemon combine with agar agar (a plant-based alternative to gelatin) for a quick and simple dessert. Naturally nut and dairy free.
If you’re after a dead easy dessert to impress then you’re in for a treat today my friends.
Now, I have my beautiful Moroccan glass tumblers to thank for this recipe. I know it sounds a bit odd, but I was admiring them on the dining table the other day when they all but sung out to me demanding I make a summery strawberry mousse to fill them with!
Who was I to argue?! A strawberry mousse I most certainly would make! And pronto!
What I love about this recipe, is that you can very easily whip it up in about ten minutes flat, pour into glasses, and chill ready to be enjoyed. I think they'd be great for Christmas day - you can make them the day before to save time, then top with fresh berries and mint before you serve them. Too easy.
Your typical mousse relies on gelatin for the soft texture, however agar agar makes for a great plant-based alternative.
Agar agar is a type of red seaweed, it comes powdered, as flakes or as strips. It is the polysaccharide content of the seaweed that lends the jelly-like texture once it is rehydrated, boiled, simmered and cooled. Gelatin will dissolve at room temperature, whilst agar agar will hold its shape a lot longer.
The key to preparing it is to whisk the agar agar into cool water before you bring it to a boil. If you add it to hot water, it will clump and be impossible to dissolve.
To make the actual mousse, it is as simple as blending the ingredients, and adding the boiled and simmered agar agar at the end. As a rough guide, you use 1 teaspoon of agar agar flakes to one cup of liquid.
I decided on a combo of strawberries and raspberries, and used a mixture of fresh berries with mint leaves to decorate them. Super cute.
Thanks for reading – enjoy and see you next week!
📖Recipe
Summer Berry Mousse Cups {nut free, V}
Ingredients
- 5 teaspoons agar agar flakes
- 5 tablespoons cool water
- 4 cups berries (3 of strawberries, 1 of raspberries)
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk (tinned, full fat)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch coarse sea salt
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons soy lecithin (choose organic, sunflower lecithin is an alternative)
Instructions
- Wash berries, cut off green tops and add to blender (reserving half a cup of strawberries) with the coconut milk, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla and sea salt. Blend till smooth.
- In a small saucepan, whisk agar agar into cool water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for a couple of minutes – whisking the whole time to fully dissolve the agar agar and prevent clumping.
- Pour agar agar mixture into the blender, add coconut oil and lecithin, and blend again till smooth. Add the remaining strawberries and blend till just broken down – the idea is to have some chunks in there.
- Pour into individual glasses – half a cup per (will yield 10 serves), and set in the fridge for 3-4 hours or more.
- To serve, add fresh mixed berries, a sprinkle of freeze dried raspberry powder and a mint leaf to each glass. Enjoy straight out of the fridge for the best consistency.
Notes
- Serves 10. I served these in small tumblers, about 1/2 cup of mousse mixture per. You might like to use more to fill a larger glass.
- Frozen and thawed berries will work fine if you can't get fresh.
- Organic soy lecithin is used to emulsify the fats with the water. Sunflower lecithin is an alternative but may darken the colour of the mousse. Lecithin is itself a type of fat, and does not contain protein. This means those who have a sensitivity to soy may still be fine with soy lecithin. Choosing organic lecithin means it is has been extracted from the plant without use of toxic solvents.
Nutrition
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