Chocolate mousse bar with peanut spirulina crumb and carob syrup

Feedback on our recent yoga retreat in Ibiza was that this vegan chocolate mousse is damn good. It’s simple to make, smooth, tasty and versatile. We were able to serve this twice on the retreat, once as a mousse in a glass decorated with fruit and nuts, and later in the week with the addition of this tasty crumb and a spot of carob and date syrup from the tree in the garden. Here’s the carob tree in all of its glory, offering a welcome shade over the back of the yoga retreat villa.

Ingredients for the vegan chocolate mousse

coconut oil
2 x sweet potatoes – peeled and cut into 15mm cross-sections for roasting
2 x bananas – peeled and halved longways
40g cacao butter
1/2 teaspoon smoked chilli or smoked paprika
40g raw cacao
sea salt
5 drops of rose water

Ingredients for the crumb

200g unsalted, skinless peanuts
200g eedless dates
2 x teaspoon spirulina powder

Ingredients for the carob syrup

5 dry carob pods
1 date
pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

Method for the vegan chocolate mousse

Roast the sweet potatoes in coconut in a hot oven.
Fry the bananas in coconut oil.
Once roasted and fried, let the sweet potatoes and the fried bananas cool a little.
Melt the cacao butter gently in a small tub over hot water.
Blend all the ingredients together well and for a good length of time until it’s all smooth and deliciously creamy.
While the mouse is warm you can decant into preferred receptacles as it will become firmer as it cools. To make the mousse bars you’ll need to decant the warm mousse mixture into the bottom of a silicone bread loaf mould and then whack it in the freezer to become more firm, so you can more easily pack the crumb on top later.

Method for the peanut crumb

Brown the peanuts on a thick-based, dry, oil-free pan. Browning makes the nuts tastier.
Pulse the toasted peanuts in a blender to your desired crumb size.
Add the dates and spiriluna and blend until it’s all mixed together properly.
Pack the crumb firmly to the top of the cooled mousse in your silicone loaf mould with the back of a dessert spoon, and when it’s packed solidly, place the mould in the freezer to set.

Method for the carob and date syrup

De-seed the pods.
Soak the pods overnight in water.
Blitz the soft, soaked pods with a little water for a long time until the carob pieces are as small as possible and the liquid is smooth.
Sieve the mixture using a fine sieve or muslin cloth and dispose of the solids that are filtered from the liquid.
Blitz the filtrate with the date and a pinch of sea salt.
Reduce the syrup until it thickens to serve.