I’ve tried twice to convert my vanilla coconut cream and cherry berry coconut cream recipes into a chocolate version. The first attempt…was awful. Not sweet enough. Too much cocoa. But it had a great texture, so I knew there was hope!
The second time… it was amazing (and then I replicated that version just to make sure).
I realize that none of my pictures turned out very good. I'll take more the next time I make it (probably tomorrow). It's hard to capture the texture accurately in a photo!
One thing to remember is that you’ll have to adjust the amount of sweetener according to (1) your taste and (2) the cocoa you use. I try to use high quality cocoa (or cacao) that is not processed with alkali (not Dutch Cocoa) because the unprocessed version has so many more wonderful nutritional qualities.
Ever since I read Naked Chocolate (by David Wolfe and Shazzie…two raw foodists who are often seen as extreme, but they sure are very knowledgeable about cacao!), I’ve tried to add more high quality chocolate to my life (and have not felt even an ounce of guilt about it!).
In the book, Cacao is described as an ancient “food of the Gods” and includes: anandamide, arginine, epicatechins, histamine, magnesium, phenylethylamine (PEA), polyphenols, salsolinol, serotonin, theobromine, tryptophan, tyramine, and Vitamin C.
What do those things do:
- heart support
- increasing brainpower
- natural laxative
- soothing menstruation
- muscle relaxation
- bone building
That said, raw cacao is not very tasty on its own. It kind of tastes like mineralized dirt. (Are you sold on it yet?!). What Americans think of as chocolate is mostly sugar and fat with a side of cocoa…the real thing is not sweet!
For this coconut cream, I used this cocoa:
Could be better. Could be worse!
This isn’t a product I would normally buy, but I was in Tops and it was the only choice (and I’m too impatient to wait till I go to a health food store). I figured it would be as close as I could get to unprocessed cocoa, and I’m not afraid of indulging once in a while anyway (even if it may seem like I never do!).
You could use this as frosting too—the texture is perfect for that (and I’ll be testing it out this weekend!).
Chocolate Coconut Cream Mousse
Mix (I used a hand mixer with the whisk beaters):
1 8oz container coconut cream
1 Tbsp Cocoa powder
2-3 Tbsp sweetener
Mix until well combined!
Notes:
- I used the 8.45 ounce pack of coconut cream from Wilderness Family Naturals. A canned version would work too.
- Refrigerate your coconut cream ahead of time, open it from the lighter (weight) end, and pour off any liquid that separated from the cream. This is not an essential step, but I always do it (I think it may make the end product just a little thicker).
- For the cocoa, you could add more to taste after you mix it—since my cocoa was extra dark, 1 T was enough.
- I used powdered ZSweet, you could use powdered sugar, maple syrup, honey…I tried stevia the first time and that did not work well. But I also added too much cocoa that time—so use stevia at your own risk!
- I powdered the ZSweet (which is a combination of Erythritol and Stevia with equal sweetness to sugar) in a coffee grinder.
- ZSweet is the same thing as Truvia, I just choose not to use Truvia because it’s owned by Coca-Cola and distributed by Cargill.
This is my favorite coconut cream combination yet. In fact, I ate the entire batch in one day. I bet it would be amazing if it were turned into ice cream too.
This chocolate mousse a great combination of light, smooth, and rich---it's not super heavy in spite of the healthy fat content. It may appear a little lumpy in the pics, but it really wasn't!
Are you a chocolate lover? Do you prefer dark or milk chocolate?
I have changed over time to appreciate and love dark chocolate, even the 87% dark version. I also enjoy adding cacao nibs to things, but I won’t pretend there isn’t something fabulous about a dark rich sweet chocolate dessert (or breakfast!).
What do you have planned for the weekend?
I went to two yoga classes today, just like last Friday. The first is an open level class, and the second is advanced (lots of fun arm balances and more challenging poses). For a tight person like me, using the first class as a nice long warm-up is perfect! This weekend, I’m going to catch up on work, go to the gym, visit my grandparents, and visit with some friends. It should be pretty low key, and I’m really looking forward to it! I think I’ll have plenty of time to play in the kitchen.
