I’m so happy to finally share my prize winning vegan, gluten-free coffee mango mousse cake! I created this recipe for a partnership sponsored by Lavazza and my culinary school, the University of Gastronomic Sciences.
During my time in culinary school, I realized I had a passion for pastry, and vegan pastry in particular. Most of the recipes I found for traditional fine pastry like entremets, sablé and pastry creams contain animal products such as eggs, dairy and gelatin. My recipe is without any animal ingredients, and tastes just as decadent and delicious.
This vegan, gluten-free entremet (layered mousse cake) is made up of:
- Gluten-Free Vanilla Cinnamon Sablé
- Coffee Chocolate Mousse
- Mango Lime Compote
- Coconut Lime Cream
- Cocoa-Coconut Crumble
- Mango Glaze
The task was to create something inspired by Lavazza’s Tierra Colombia blend.
I knew that I wanted to create a vegan dessert, and had been watching so many YouTube videos on how to do it. The coffee has a unique flavor profile including lime, jasmine, and tropical fruits, so I wanted to highlight those notes in the final recipe.
I consulted The Vegetarian Flavor Bible to see which flavors compliment coffee, and decided I would go with the classics of vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate, then some more unique flavors like mango, lime and coconut.
Once I had the flavor profiles down, I thought about textures.
This entremet has a creamyness from the coconut lime cream and chocolate mousse, a crunch from the sablé and cocoa crumble, bitterness from the chocolate and coffee, and a nice acidity from the mango and lime.
When it came to the coffee, I infused the coconut milk with whole coffee beans first to make the chocolate mousse, in addition to adding freshly brewed coffee to the espresso.
Additionally, I used fresh and used coffee grounds in the crumble to help reduce waste, and lend an extra layer of coffee flavor and texture to the crumble.
In glazes, you typically find gelatin as the thickener. I used a special NH pectin that creates a nice soft and shiny gel without the use of gelatin. I talk about pectin in my post on Mastering the Vegan Chocolate Mousse!
For the mold, I used the Silikomart Eclipse mold.
Let me know in the comments if you make this recipe, and enjoy!
Vegan Coffee Mango Mousse Cake (gluten-free)
Ingredients
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Sablé
- 106g margarine or vegan butter
- 40g almond flour
- 45g icing sugar
- 200g gluten-free flour blend
- 2g salt
- 20g water
- 1 vanilla bean
- 2 g cinnamon
- 2 g cardamom
Mango Lime Compote
- 241g mango puree
- 15g lime juice
- 15g sugar
- 2g NH pectin
- 30g water
Mango Glaze
- 66 g granulated sugar
- 135g water
- 10g NH pectin
- 30g agave syrup
- 25g coconut oil
- 100g mango puree
- Lime juice from ½ lime
Coconut Lime Cream
- 1 can Nature’s Charm Coconut Whipping Cream
- 20g powdered sugar
- Juice of 1 lime
Cocoa Coconut Crumble
- 40g rice flour
- 40g almond flour
- 15g fresh coffee grounds
- 10g used coffee grounds
- 1g salt
- 25g brown sugar
- 10g shredded coconut
- 25g coconut oil
Chocolate Coffee Mousse
- 322g canned coconut milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 53 g Lavazza Tierra whole coffee beans
- 10g leftover brewed coffee
- 1.5g agar
- 30g agave
- 200g chocolate 70%
- .5g xanthan gum
- 86g aquafaba
- 15g powdered sugar
Instructions
Sablé:
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/ 320°F.
- Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat vegan butter/margarine with sugar until soft. Add half of the soy milk to the mixture, and beat until liquid is incorporated. Mix in flours, cornstarch, vanilla bean pods, and spices. Mix gently and add the remaining soy milk. When the mixture forms a cohesive ball, stop mixing. Scrape the dough onto parchment paper, and roll out to about .5 cm thick. Cover with plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Take the sablé from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Cut a circle about 15cm in diameter (if using Silikomart Eclipse mold), and prick several times with a fork. Place the sablé circle in the freezer for 5 min and in the meantime prepare the tray with the baking paper. Reserve the remaining dough for another tart!
- Bake the tart in a fan oven at 160°C/ 320°F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
Mango Lime Compote
- Mix pectin and sugar together in a small dish.
- Add mango puree, lime juice, and water to a small pot and heat on low-medium to about 50C/122F. Slowly add in the pectin/sugar mixture while whisking constantly, and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Emulsify with the immersion blender, and pour into Silikomart Mulit-insert mold (large side 176mm). Place in the freezer to set.
Coconut Cream
- Take the can of coconut milk and extract only thick cream on the surface. Put the cream in the bowl of a whip together with the lime juice and powdered sugar with a hand mixer. Pour over mango lime compote in mold, and keep in the freezer.
Cocoa Coffee Crumble
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl except for the coconut oil, and whisk together well. Add coconut oil and work into the mixture using your fingers until you obtain a sandy texture with small clumps. Bake at 180°C/ 356°F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Coffee Chocolate Mousse
- In a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk, whole vanilla bean, and coffee beans. Bring to a boil on low heat, then turn off the heat, cover, and let infuse for 1 hour.
- Strain the mixture, and return the coconut milk infusion to the pot, removing all solids.
- Add agar powder, brewed coffee and agave syrup to the coconut milk and mix well. Bring to a boil to activate the agar, then turn off heat and cool to about 40°C/104°F.
- Add chocolate to a heatproof bowl, and pour warm coconut milk over the chocolate. Mix to let the chocolate melt.
- Use an immersion blender to emulsify the mixture, and allow it to cool.
- In a separate bowl, add aquafaba and whisk with a hand mixer. Once the mixture has doubled and soft peaks begin to form, add xanthan gum and powdered sugar. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.
- Pour the chocolate ganache into a bowl, and gently fold in the aquafaba meringue in three additions.
Mango Glaze
- Mix pectin and granulated sugar together in a small dish. In a saucepan pour water, agave syrup, mango puree and lime juice, emulsify with an immersion blender to avoid lumps.While whisking, slowly add in the sugar and pectin mixture. Bring to a boil over low heat to activate the pectin, then remove from the heat and add the coconut oil. Emulsify again with the hand blender until the ingredients are completely dispersed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next day.
Assembly:
- Layer the mango compote, coconut cream, and crumble into the silikomart multi-round insert and freeze for 12 hours.
- Pour chocolate mousse into Silikomart Eclipse mold, and fill about halfway.
- Remove frozen insert from mold, and insert into the center of the mousse. Cover with remaining mousse, and place in the fridge to set for 12 hours before freezing through completely.
- Remove frozen cake from mold. Heat glaze to about 45°C/113°F, and allow to cool to 35°C/95°F.
- Pour the glaze over the frozen mousse, and allow the drips to firm before moving.
- Carefully place the cake on top of the sablé crust circle.
- Pipe the remaining coconut cream, mango compote, cocoa crumble on top, and garnish with coffee beans and coconut flakes.
- Allow the tart to thaw for 1-2 hours in the fridge before serving. Enjoy!
