Cappuccino Mousse (+ VIDEO!)

This glorious keto Cappuccino Mousse has been a L-O-N-G time in the posting.  I originally created it in early 2017 (!!) when I was working on a cookbook with a publisher. I decided that cookbook deal wasn’t the right one for me as soon as they started requiring me to compromise on things that shouldn’t be compromised on – like using stock pictures for recipes, not having pictures for every recipe, and wanting to post cholesterol and calorie counts all over the show. Thus, I found myself with a whole bunch of new recipes that needed a home. This is one of them.

Given the level of crazy that life has been for me this year, it somehow got round to being December before I had the chance to unearth all these recipe gems. And so here we are the week before Christmas and finally I’m giving you a new, easy, simple, delicious dessert – Cappuccino Mousse – to wow your family and friends at your holiday gatherings.

I have a suspicion, however, that you’ll be whipping up a bowl of this Cappuccino Mousse all year round. It makes an excellent little somethin’ to finish off you meal. You could even stir a spoon or two into your coffee to make yourself a fabulous, rich coffee thang.

This Cappuccino Mousse is rich, yet light and fluffy. It’s fluffy like whipped cream, but has enough body that it won’t collapse on you after a couple of hours in the fridge. Or a couple of days in the fridge. Which brings me to another huge win – you can make it in advance and reduce the craziness of providing grub for large holiday gatherings. It also doesn’t collapse the instant you take a spoonful, and thus you get a most glorious mouthfeel and the flavor lingers a little longer.

Whip this up the day before your meal, spoon into cute little serving dishes, cover with plastic wrap, and pop in the fridge. Then just bring them out and remove the plastic wrap right before serving. I suggest topping with spoon of whipped cream and a few coffee beans. Your peeps will think you’ve been taking classes.

I do not suggest eating this as soon as you’ve made it. It is intended to be chilled in the fridge for several hours – or better yet – overnight to firm up and create the perfect texture. Once made you can put it directly into cups, pretty glasses, or serving dishes if you’re serving it to friends or family for dessert. If it’s at a buffet-style gathering you can serve it in  large bowl. You can deposit the whole lot into an airtight container and just eat a few spoonfuls as required. Or you can portion into small airtight containers so you can grab-and-go if you’re on the run.

The best part – no one will have any clue this is one of your ‘crazy diet’ recipes. Your dinner party dessert can be as sumptuous, delicious, and swanky as the next one. Just a *LOT* healthier.

Cappuccino Mousse

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time:  10 mins   |   Chilling time:  4 hours  |   Total time:  4 hours 10 mins  |  Serves: 6 – 8

What You Need

• ¼ cup / 2 fl oz cold water
• 1½ tsp gelatin (use this for vegetarians and vegans)
• ¼ cup / 2 fl oz hot water
• 1 TBSP espresso powder
• ¼ cup + 2 TBSP erythritol (or equivalent sweetener – see notes below)
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 4 oz / 110g cream cheese, softened (see notes below)
• 1 cup / 8 fl oz heavy cream

What You Do

1. Pour the cold water in a small dish or cup and gently sprinkle the gelatin powder evenly over the surface. Leave to stand for 5 minutes.
2. Pour the hot water into a small pan, add the espresso powder, sweetener, sea salt, and stir well over low heat until completely dissolved. Turn the heat off.
3. Add the soaked gelatin to the mixture in the pan and stir well until completely dissolved. Leave to cool.
4. Put the softened cream cheese into a large bowl and beat well or use a hand mixer until it is very soft. You can also do this in a stand mixer.
5. Add the cooled coffee mixture to the cream cheese a little at a time and beat well between each addition, until you have incorporated all the coffee mixture and cream cheese together.
6. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until you have stiff peaks, but stop before it turns to butter. For once, we don’t want butter.
7. Add the whipped cream to the coffee cheese mixture and lightly and carefully fold the two together until they are completely mixed. If you are too heavy-handed you’ll knock some of the air out of the cream and your mousse will be less light and fluffy.
8. Spoon the mousse into dishes or storage containers as required. You may eat the scrapings from the bowl and whisk, but do not sit there and eat the whole lot. I say this because I know you will want to.
9. Cover and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Top Recipe Tips

• Sweetener – in this recipe you can use your preferred sweetener, as the structure of the recipe will not be adversely affected.
• Gelatin – you can use any brand of unflavored gelatin that you prefer. The one I recommend (link in the recipe) is one of the highest quality gelatin’s available.
• Get your cream cheese out the night before you make this so it’s room temperature. If you forget the night before, get it out as far in advance of making this as you can. Your arm or hand-mixer will thank you. So will the finished texture of your mousse. If your cream cheese is not sufficiently soft before adding the coffee mixture you’re gonna have to beat the dickens out of it to get them to mix completely. So I *highly* recommend using softened cream cheese to start.
• For stronger or lighter coffee flavor you can add or subtract some of the espresso powder.
• Allowing the mousse to set in the fridge for 4 hours (or more) will significantly improve the texture as the gelatin will have a chance to do it’s magic. Resist! Let it set!

• Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
• Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

• Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
• Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
• For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!

Podcast Episodes

• How and Why to Measure Food
• Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?

Substitutions

• Don’t. Just buy the correct ingredients and you, too, shall have a fabulous outcome!
• Swap out the cream cheese for mascarpone at your peril. Mascarpone is nowhere near as stable as cream cheese and if over-whipped or over-beaten it will split. And it doesn’t take very much for this to happen. If you decide to use mascarpone instead, do not beat or whip it, but very carefully blend the coffee mixture into the mascarpone and then very gently fold in the whipped cream.
• Espresso powder is NOT ground coffee beans, so you cannot use ground coffee or grounds from a Nespresso pod. You could use instant coffee granules but you would likely need more to get the same level of coffee flavor.
• This can’t be made dairy-free successfully. Coconut milk does not whip like cream, and cream cheese is not replaceable (unless you purchase dairy-free cream cheese, but even then, those products do not behave or taste the same. I shall mull on a dairy-free mousse recipe for y’all.