Small Batch Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake – No Tofu, No Cashews!
This velvety soft chocolate mousse cake is a fluffy, deeply decadent dream made in small batch form! No eggs, no dairy (and just a 2 ingredient chocolate mousse that sets perfectly all without gelatin!), this vegan small batch chocolate mousse cake is perfect for just you and me- and the perfect easier version of my full sized classic version!
Why you’ll love this small batch chocolate mousse cake:
I think we can all agree that chocolate mousse cake is the epitome of decadent dessert for any special occasion. And while I have a full batch version of the classic chocolate mousse cake (made with the same 2 ingredient, no gelatin chocolate mousse!), I just really felt we needed a version that’s a bit more accessible.
Not that the original isn’t super easy too- actually it’s the same method (just a bowl and a whisk!), just much smaller…more of a portion for you and me! Here’s why you’ll love this recipe:
- Taste & Texture: Oh my goodness. It’s soft, fluffy, and melts in your mouth, from the ganache, to the mousse, to the cake. Just one clean swoop of the fork, and you get the most deeply rich chocolate flavor in the cake complemented by cool, creamy, airy mousse and finished with a silky ganache. It’s yum in every bite, and you just cannot stop!
- Ease: We’re using a small cake pan OR a loaf pan here- after a few rounds of testing, I found that a double layer (mousse and cake) in either a round or loaf cake version was the best option (so sorry to everyone who voted for the multiple layers on Instagram! I will work on something similarly, don’t worry 🙂 ). And yes of course- the chocolate mousse is made with just 2 ingredients and NO gelatin!!
- Pros: I really developed this recipe with wanting to celebrate smaller, more intimate occasions in mind. Whether it’s date night, Valentine’s Day, or just an anytime special treat, you now can enjoy chocolate mousse cake without needing to serve a crowd. It also really does focus on using a bowl and a whisk (except for the mousse part- you may have more success with a hand mixer haha!).
- Am I making this again? I mean, I already have, again and again!!
Simple ingredients:
I really like to mention that there is absolutely no vegan butter in this recipe. I’m serious!!! And yet, you still get the fluffiest, most MOIST results. Here’s what you need:
- Neutral oil: I like avocado oil for this, but actually, olive oil works well too.
- Sugar & light brown sugar
- All-purpose Flour: You can use gluten-free flour too if needed. I’ve tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten-free flour, and it works a treat!
- Black cocoa powder: This is a bit different than my usual recommendation of Dutch-process cocoa powder, but well worth it I believe. It’s a bit trickier to find at grocery stores, so you may have to special order it, but I think it really creates that ultra deep chocolatey flavor. Alternatively, you can use Dutch-process cocoa powder just fine! Just try to stay away from all-natural cocoa powder, as it doesn’t yield the deepest cocoa flavor and it will also cause the cake to rise more than intended.
- Vegan chocolate: I really like Valrhona’s vegan chocolate selections or Enjoy Life dark chocolate chunks!
- Vegan heavy cream: Silk! is my absolute favorite brand for this! Califia sometimes splits easily when trying to make the whipped cream portion, so just be careful.
Overview: how to make small batch chocolate mousse cake:
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
Two keys to success:
Properly temped ingredients: At various points throughout this recipe, you need hot ingredients and then you need cold ingredients. This is important, and needs to be adhered to or you risk ruining the recipe! Hot ingredients will be going into our cake mixture where noted (hot coffee) along with room temperature ingredients (dairy free milk and dairy free yogurt).
Then in our chocolate mousse portion, you’ll need both room temperature and cold ingredients. The room temperature ingredients will come from chilling the hot chocolate ganache to room temperature. Then it will be integrated with the cold heavy vegan cream. This is essential to help build up the mousse’s airiness, without using any gelatin!
Chilling time: Once it’s all assembled, now you really just need to allow for the chilling time to fully set the mousse. I like to make this cake in the morning so that by the time I serve it for dessert, it’s ready to go. But if you want to save time, you can also make it the day before! Just as long as it sets for at least 5 hours, you’ll be good to go!
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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Small Batch Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake – No Tofu, No Cashews!
- Prep Time: 30
- Chilling Time: 300
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 6 hours
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This velvety soft chocolate mousse cake is a fluffy, deeply decadent dream made in small batch form! No eggs, no dairy (and just a 2 ingredient chocolate mousse that sets perfectly all without gelatin!), this vegan small batch chocolate mousse cake is perfect for just you and me- and the perfect easier version of my full sized classic version!
Ingredients
Chocolate cake:
- 1/2 cups (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 g) light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 g) neutral oil
- 1/4 cup (57 g) vegan dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (25 g) black cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) dairy free milk, room temperature
- 3/4 cups (94 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour, sifted
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) hot water + 1 tsp dissolvable espresso powder (or 1/4 cup (60 mL) brewed coffee, decaf if desired)
Chocolate mousse:
- 1/2 batch vegan ganache, chilled to room temperature
- 1 cup (240 mL) vegan heavy cream, cold
Topping:
- 1 batch vegan ganache
- Chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9″ loaf pan OR small 6″ springform pan with parchment paper. Read through all ingredients and instructions. Make sure the coffee is brewed or the water is hot. Place a mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl into the freezer to chill while you make the cake portion.
- Whisk: In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, light brown sugar, neutral oil, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract until combined. Add in the black or Dutch-process cocoa powder, and whisk to combine. Finally, add in the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, and whisk until incorporated.
- Finish the batter: Pour in the flour, along with the dairy free milk, and whisk JUST until the flour is combined. Then pour in the HOT coffee or espresso mixture, and whisk until the coffee is fully incorporated into the batter and the batter is smooth.
- Bake: Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan or loaf pan, and bake for 40 minutes for the springform pan or 28-30 minutes for the loaf pan, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake lightly bounces back.
- While the cake is baking: Prepare the half batch of chocolate ganache according to instructions in the mousse section. Set aside in the fridge, stirring every 30 minutes for 1.5 hours until the ganache is cooled but still almost pudding-like.
- Cool: Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes in the pan. Then remove from the baking pan and let cool completely on a cooling rack. Once fully cooled (about 1-1.5 hours), you can use a large kitchen knife, and carefully slice the rounded portion of the top of the loaf cake off so that the cake is leveled for the mousse. You can save the cake top as a snack (yum!!) or use for cake truffles!). Once leveled, place the leveled cake back into the loaf pan, and set aside.
- Make the mousse: Remove the chilling bowl from the freezer, and using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer with whisk attachment, pour in 1 cup of vegan heavy cream. Mix on medium-high speed until the whipped cream reaches semi-stiff peaks, being careful not to over mix which can lead to split cream. Once semi-stiff peaks are achieved, spoon in the COOLED chocolate ganache (there should be NO WARMTH in the ganache WHATSOEVER), and mix again on high speed until combined. It may become a touch softer, but it should NOT be liquid.
- Assemble: Spoon the chocolate mousse on top of the leveled chocolate cake, and smooth the top of the mousse. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap and place into the fridge to chill for 5 hours or overnight.
- Finish: Make the chocolate ganache in the topping section, and let cool until room temperature. Remove the mousse cake from the fridge and carefully remove it from the loaf pan, running a knife around the edges of any mousse touching the pan and not parchment paper. Pour the chocolate ganache on top of the cake, and use an offset spatula to spread to the edges.
- Slice and serve! Slice the chocolate ganache cake, and enjoy!
Notes
Gluten free: I really like King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten-free flour here. You MUST use a flour blend with xanthan gum.
Black cocoa powder: This is an extra dark variety of cocoa powder (most prominently used in Oreo cookies!) that yields a super rich chocolate flavor. This cake also works well with Dutch-process cocoa powder, but keep in mind the cake color will be slightly lighter in color. Please do NOT use all-natural cocoa powder here.
See blog post for all tips & tricks!
