Merry Christmas Hive friends. I hope you are all having a wonderful time with family and friends. Though my hubby and I arenât Christmass fans, I must admit that I miss being around my family this time of the year. My mom loves Christmas. If we would have been in Belgium, we would have spent the entire day at my parentsâ place, stuffing ourselves with lots of yummy (not so healthy) treats and drinks.
Letâs hope we can go visit them soon. I am hoping in a few months for my dadâs 70th birthday. Due to corona, I havenât seen them for over 2.5 years. By the time we make it to Belgium, it will be 3 years. For my hubby, it has even been longer.
Though I am feeling a little sad to not be able to hug my family during this holiday season, I feel very grateful for what I have and whatâs about to happen in the coming year. Corona or not we are done waiting for a better normal.
Even if not much has changed by mid-2022 we are making the move and starting a new chapter in our life. South America here we come! I literally canât wait. Not only to start looking for our dream piece of land to start our off-grid adventure, but also to discover a whole new world of flavors to inspire my dishes!
What are all of you up to in the coming year? I hope you have some lovely things lined up too! After the whole world being on pause for so long, we deserve a fun, free, healthy, and adventurous 2022.
We started the holiday season with a yummy, sweet little treat. Though I told you before that we arenât Christmas celebrating people, any excuse is a good excuse to get some friends over for food, fun, laughter, and much love.
On Christmas day we invited a few friends for vegan sushi. I didnât prepare it myself but it inspired me to try and make my own.
What I did make was guacamole and homemade crackers as an appetizer and a kiwi mousse for dessert⊠though I will share my cracker recipe in one of my next posts, today I want to share the kiwi mousse with you. It was so good that I am probably making this again for our New yearâs dinner.
VEGAN EGG WHITES
Before I show you how to make the mousse. allow me to enlighten you about vegan âegg whites.â Something I have learned to make many years ago when I wanted to make a vegan version of one of my hubbyâs sweet little favorite treats French Macarons.
This reminds me of adding them back to my to-make list. It has been years since we had them.
Vegan egg whites are made by mixing the following ingredients:
AQUAFABA is the cooking water of chickpeas or other legumes. Though chickpea juice or cooking water is the one usually used if you want to make egg whites.
Aquafaba can mimic the functional properties of egg white in cooking. It can be used as a direct replacement in most recipes that call for egg whites such as meringue, mousses, macarons, and marshmallows.
Slowly cooking dried chickpeas in water for a few hours until the water turns to aquafaba will give you similar results without the added preservatives you get from canned juice. If, however, you are new to using aquafaba I recommend using the liquid from a can first as this is a fool-proof consistency that always works.
If you have been following my posts for a while then you know I am not a huge fan of using canned or processed ingredients. When I am making something with aquafaba I must admit I usually use the canned version too. Just make sure you buy organic and BPA-free cans.
CREAM OF TARTAR - AKA potassium bitartrate - is the powdered form of tartaric acid. It helps âegg whitesâ achieve their full volume potential and stabilizes them by holding in water and air to create extra fluff.
FYI: Though you can use lemon or lime juice to add some acidity, I have had the best and fluffiest results when using cream of tartar.
VEGAN KIWI MOUSSE - THE RECIPE
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 200 g fresh blended kiwi fruit
- 2 tbsp maple syrup, coconut nectar, or agave syrup
- œ tsp vanilla extract
- â cup coconut cream (about 150 grams)
- 1 tbsp lukewarm water
- Ÿ to 1 tsp agar-agar
- â cup aquafaba (about 85 grams)
- â tsp creme of tartar (you can use lemon or lime juice instead if you donât have cream de tartar)
Toppings
Though you can top the kiwi mousse with whatever you like, here's what I used for ours...
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh kiwifruit
- Coconut flakes
- Cacao nibs
- Mulberries
Directions
Blend about 200g of kiwifruit until smooth. Then add maple syrup and vanilla and blend again. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
In a small bowl combine lukewarm water and agar-agar. Whisk until well combined.
Add dissolved agar-agar and coconut cream to a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it starts to boil. Stir regularly.
Remove from heat and pour in the kiwi juice. Stir to combine and let cool until lukewarm.
Meanwhile, drain the chickpeas, keeping the liquid (aquafaba). Chickpeas can be used for a salad, falafel, hummus, etc. Place in a mixing bowl and add the cream of tartar or lime/lemon juice.
Using an electric whisk, mix at high speed until firm peaks. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down. This takes longer than whisking egg whites so keep whisking until firm. This can take up to 5-6 minutes.
Pour half of the kiwi mix into the bowl and carefully fold with a spatula into the aquafaba âegg whitesâ. Once combined fold in the remaining kiwi juice. Do not overmix as you want to keep the mousse nice and fluffy.
Transfer to jars, cups, or glasses and let set in the fridge.
Serve with your fav toppings. I used fresh halved strawberries and kiwi cubes, cacao nibs, dried mulberries, and coconut flakes.
WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY AND HEALTHY HOLIDAY SEASON አአáŠ
ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL!
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