This healthy vegan chocolate mousse cake features an easy homemade cookie crust, protein-packed chocolate mousse and is sweetened only with dates! Try this oh-so-chocolatey wholesome dessert.
If you ever want to make a crowd-pleasing cake for your non-vegan friends or family, this is it.
With a melt-in-your-mouth vegan chocolate mousse that utilizes a secret ingredient you probably already have in your pantry, nobody will believe that this cake is completely plant-based.
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This vegan chocolate mousse cake is not overly sweet (although you can totally bump up the sweetness factor if you like!), beyond delicious and is indulgent and light all at once.
You can make the high-protein cookie crust the day before to save you some precious time the day you want to serve your chocolate cake!
Be sure to try our healthy vegan carrot cake, edible cookie dough and fudgy blackout brownies for more whole food plant-based treats.
Recipe overview
- Rich, creamy & not overly sweet
- Undetectably vegan & whole food plant-based
- Crowd-pleasing and beautiful
- High in protein & low in sugar
- Super satisfying but not too heavy
- Accessible ingredients
- So chocolatey yet good for you
This recipe takes only 30 minutes of hands-on preparation and a few handy kitchen tools like a food processor, baking pan (or cast-iron skillet), small bowl and an electric mixer.
Ingredients needed
- Dates — great for both texture and taste, this dried fruit allows us to keep our chocolate mousse cake completely refined sugar free.
- Almond Butter — can be replaced with cashew butter or applesauce (for a lower fat version).
- Almond + Oat Flour — keeping this vegan chocolate mousse cake completely gluten-free and inclusive; make your own flours at home in a blender if you like.
- Chickpeas — one 15-oz can of these healthy legumes is our protein-packed secret ingredient for this cake! Reserve the liquid for the mousse.
- Silken Tofu — another higher protein key component for our delicious chocolate mousse!
- Dark Chocolate — this goes into our vegan mousse, crust and can be used as a cake decoration.
- Cream of Tartar — this helps thicken the aquafaba into stiff peaks.
Just a handful of more everyday baking staples like salt or vanilla extract and you’re already good to go! Find our favorite topping ideas and additional tips below!
Here are the steps you need to follow.
How to make vegan chocolate mousse cake
Start by preheating your oven to 345° F (175° C) and prepare a cast iron skillet or round baking dish for the crust.
Get a food processor and put the dates, almond butter and vanilla extract into it. Pulse and process to obtain a puree.
Next, add the chickpeas, almond flour, oat flour, baking powder and a sprinkle of salt. Process again to obtain a thick, smooth and creamy batter. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.
Using your food processor or a spoon, you can fold in the chocolate chunks. This step is optional, as you can leave the crust plain without any chocolate if you like.
Adjust your dough to taste preferences, then distribute it evenly in your prepared skillet or baking dish. This works best with the back of a spoon or wetted fingers.
Finally, put it into the oven for around 20 minutes or until cooked through. Once your crust is done baking, remove it from the oven and let it cool.
2. Make the chocolate mousse
Clean your food processor jar and put the soaked dates into it, making sure they are well-drained. Pulse to obtain a smooth date paste.
Add your silken tofu and melted chocolate to the dates. Process again until a creamy batter forms.
Make the fluffy aquafaba by pouring the chickpea liquid and cream or tartar into a medium-sized bowl and whipping it with a hand mixer. Don’t give up too soon, this can take a few minutes!
Once it’s all nice and frothy, carefully add the tofu, date, and chocolate mixture from your food processor into the bowl. Gently incorporate with a whisk until you have a homogeneous chocolate mousse!
3. Assemble the chocolate mousse cake
Once the chickpea crust has cooled completely, add the chocolate mousse on top! Using the back of a spoon, you can distribute it evenly to create a thick layer.
Time to decorate! Get some blackberries, grated chocolate, crushed pistachios, and coarse salt, and arrange them to your liking. More topping ideas can be found below this section.
Finally, refrigerate your homemade vegan chocolate mousse cake for around an hour before cutting it into slices and serving it!
Prepping & storage
You can bake the chickpea cookie crust up to 2 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge! This trick allows you to put your vegan chocolate mousse cake together in just 15 minutes.
Just make the aquafaba chocolate mousse the day you want to serve your cake, get the cookie crust from the fridge, and assemble your dessert! It still needs some resting time for the mousse layer, though.
Any leftover chocolate mousse cake can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. We recommend slicing the cake and storing it in an airtight container.
Tips for this recipe
Topping ideas
- Fresh raspberries
- Strawberries
- Pomegranate seeds
- Sliced peaches
- Pecans or walnuts
- Slivered almonds
- Shredded coconut
- Coconut whipped cream
- Caramel sauce
- Vegan frosting
- Fresh mint
- Edible flours
Make a no-bake chocolate mousse cake
You can make this a no-bake vegan chocolate mousse cake by leaving the chickpea cookie layer unbaked or using a different crust!
Our vegan fruit tarts feature an easy no-bake crust using just dates, almonds, rolled oats and a frozen banana which you can use instead of the cookie dough crust.
Other chocolate mousse variations
The great thing is that because you already need some chickpeas for the cookie crust, you automatically have chickpea liquid on hand to create the fluffy chocolate mousse.
But what if you don’t have a hand whisk? Trying to get the aquafaba to become frothy in your high-speed blender will leave you disappointed, I’m afraid.
Luckily, you can make vegan chocolate mousse using canned coconut cream or ripe avocados!
We just love the convenience of using up the chickpea liquid and adding some healthy plant-based protein with the silken tofu.
More healthy vegan desserts
Creating whole food plant-based versions of our favorite desserts is totally our jam! Try these chocolate treats next.
- Chocolate Ice Cream
- No-Bake Caramel Slice
- Vegan Bounty Balls
- Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
- Vegan Pumpkin Brownies
Did you try our healthy vegan chocolate mousse cake and like it? Share with us in the comments below, leave a rating and Pin the recipe here!
Ingredients
Cookie Crust
- 6 dates pitted (60 g)
- 4 tbsp almond butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 15- oz can chickpeas drained (240 g)
- ½ cup almond flour 56 g
- 2 tbsp oat flour 16 g
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt optional
- ⅓ cup chopped dark chocolate 60 g
Chocolate Mousse
- 1 cup dates pitted and soaked (150 g)
- 1 cup silken tofu 250 g
- 1 cup dark chocolate melted (140 g)
- ½ cup aquafaba/chickpea liquid 120 ml
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
Cake Toppings
- Blackberries
- Shaved chocolate
- Crushed pistachios
- Coarse salt
Instructions
Make the Cookie Crust
- Preheat your oven to 345° F (175° C) and prepare a cast iron skillet or round baking dish.
- To create the batter, start by placing the dates, almond butter and vanilla extract into a food processor jar and pulse to obtain a puree.
- Next, add the chickpeas, almond flour, oat flour, baking powder and a sprinkle of salt if you like. Process again to obtain a thick, smooth and creamy batter. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.
- Fold in the chocolate chunks using a spoon, then make a quick taste test to see whether any adjustments are necessary.
- Add the cookie crust mixture into the prepared skillet and evenly flatten it with the back of a spoon or wetted fingers.
- Put the skillet into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the center is cooked through. You can check it by inserting a toothpick — if it comes out clean, the cookie cake is done.
- Remove from the oven and let cool.
Make the Chocolate Mousse
- Drain your soaked and pitted dates well, then place them into a food processor and pulse to obtain a puree.
- Add the silken tofu and melted dark chocolate, then process again until a creamy batter forms.
- Pour the aquafaba and cream of tartar into a medium-sized bowl and whip with a hand mixer to obtain a frothy mixture. This may take a few minutes, so don’t worry!
- Slowly add your chocolate, date and tofu mixture from the food processor into the fluffy aquafaba and gently whisk to incorporate until you have a homogeneous chocolate mousse.
- Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to let the mousse set for 40-60 minutes.
Assemble the Chocolate Mousse Cake
- Once the chickpea crust has cooled completely, and the mousse has set in the fridge, spread the chocolate mousse on top of it. Using the back of a spoon, create an even layer on top of your crust.
- Decorate your cake with blackberries, grated chocolate, crushed pistachios and some coarse salt.
- Serve right away or refrigerate if serving later.
Notes
- Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. We recommend slicing the cake and storing in an airtight container.
- If you have a bit more time, chill the assembled chocolate mousse cake for more than an hour before serving to let it firm up nicely.
- Get creative with your cake topping by using seasonal berries, chopped nuts or coconut whipped cream!
- Feel free to add some maple syrup or sugar to the crust and mousse if you’re looking for more sweetness.
- The chocolate mousse needs to be made with an electric hand mixer. If you don’t have this appliance, check out other ways of making vegan mousse in the article above.
- If you don’t have any oat flour or almond flour on hand, you can create it at home! Using whole almonds and rolled oats, put the amount needed (in weight) in your blender or food processor and blend until you end up with flour.
Thanks Alena!! Going to make this in the New Year…got lots of your information and recipes I purchased awhile ago. Looks wonderful…so glad you take the time to do all this for those of us that don’t have the time or NRG!!
thank you so much for your lovely feedback! do let us know how you like the cake and merry Christmas :)
wow, super chocolatey indeed! I was looking for a healthier cake recipe so this was perfect
Made this cake and was SO GOOOOD. Thank you!
The cake bottom turned out so, so dry, unfortunately ???? the mousse is really delicious though…
awww perhaps the crust has been in the oven for too long? Sorry to hear! Ovens work so differently, I notice that each time I use my mother in law’s.
I made this mousse cake for our family Christmas lunch & it was amazing – even the non-vegetarians loved it! :) Thank you so much!
Will definitely be making this again, it was so delicious!
I made this over the weekend and is was really good. I added four or five extra dates and the mousse was almost too sweet, the called for amount would be fine. We are really enjoying this one, I could also see adapting it to be other flavors.
this sounds great, Tom! Thanks so much for sharing. I’d love to know your ideas about different flavors :))
I can’t have soy, so you have a suggestion for a tofu alternative that would be the same texture?
aww sorry, haven’t tested this recipe in a soy-free version! I just found this recipe that you might want to try: https://schoolnightvegan.com/home/vegan-chocolate-mousse-cake/