These vegan strawberry mousse tarts are airy, light and full of strawberry flavour! Made with fabulous aquafaba for a real mousse texture with loads of air bubbles, fresh strawberries and a simple two-ingredient crust, this vegan tart is the perfect spring dessert!
Vegan strawberry mousse with aquafaba is one of the recipes I’m most proud of ever since I published it over on my other blog Cilantro and Citronella a couple of years ago.
At the time a lot of people were experimenting with aquafaba in order to make vegan chocolate mousse but there was a serious lack of vegan mousse recipes using fruit and other flavours beyond chocolate.
So I created the vegan strawberry mousse cake and let me tell you, it’s amazing! It has a simple cookie-date crust, an aquafaba strawberry mousse layer and a strawberry jelly layer on top.
Since I had some strawberries leftover from my vegan strawberry lemon poppy seed pancakes and quickly going bad, I decided to bring back one of my most popular recipes but in a simplified tart form. Let me introduce you to the vegan strawberry mousse tarts!
To make these strawberry mousse tarts I simply blitzed together some dates and digestive biscuits for the crust. Make sure to read the ingredients on the digestive biscuits as a lot of them contain palm oil or milk. I found a brand that does not.
Although if you don’t want to use digestive biscuits, you can use any kind of vegan tart crust. Bakerita blog has a few gluten-free, grain-free and vegan tart crusts that would work well with this vegan strawberry mousse recipe.
Once you press the tart crust into your tart pans (mine measured 11 cm / 4.3 inches) they’re ready for the mousse filling. To make the mousse filling first macerate the chopped strawberries. Macerate means to sprinkle them with sugar and leave them to release their juices.
Take that juice and simmer it down by about half. You do this in order to concentrate the strawberry flavour and make it spectacular! Meanwhile blitz the strawberries into a puree.
Combine the blitzed strawberries with the reduced juice and coconut cream scooped from the top of a chilled can of coconut milk. The coconut cream adds a delicious rich and creamy texture to your vegan mousse.
Warm this mix in a small pot and whisk in some agar agar to thicken it. After just a couple of minutes it will thicken and be ready for the aquafaba.
Preparing the aquafaba for this recipe is really easy. I used three tablespoons of chilled aquafaba and my mixer to beat it into stiff peaks. No need to add cream of tartar or sugar to the aquafaba as the strawberries are already sweetened.
Very gently fold the whipped aquafaba into the strawberry mixture in order to maintain as much of the airiness as possible. Pour it into your tart bases and put them in the fridge to set. Easy, right?
Decorate your vegan strawberry mousse tarts as you like. I had a bit of coconut cream leftover so I made it into a coconut whipped cream and piped it over my tarts with some extra sliced strawberries and mint. A drizzle of melted chocolate or a sprinkling of lemon zest would also be tasty!
Wanna see how to make these vegan strawberry mousse tarts step by step? Watch the video!:
Vegan Strawberry Mousse Tarts
Ingredients
- 250 grams (9 oz) fresh strawberries - $0.90
- 2 tablespoons sugar - $0.04
- A pinch of salt - $0.01
- 90 grams (3 oz) digestive biscuits - $0.26
- 135 grams (4.8 oz) pitted dates - $0.45
- 2 tablespoons coconut cream from a chilled can of coconut milk - $0.13
- 3 tablespoons chilled aquafaba – free from a can of chickpeas, freeze it each time you open a can to use it when you need it
- ¾ teaspoon agar agar powder - $0.57
- Optional toppings: coconut whipped cream sliced strawberries, mint, chocolate drizzle, lemon zest
Instructions
- Chop the strawberries and put them in a bowl with the sugar and salt. Leave for about 30 minutes to release their juices.
- Meanwhile blitz the digestive biscuits and dates together into a crumb using a food processor. The mix should stick together when you squeeze it. Press it into your tart pans. I used three 11 cm (4.3 inches) pans and I lightly greased them with oil just to be sure.
- Once your strawberries have released a lot of juice, strain it into a small pot. I used a cheesecloth and squeezed out all the juice possible from the strawberries. Simmer the juice over medium heat until reduced by half. Meanwhile, transfer the squeezed strawberries to a food processor and blitz into a puree.
- Remove the pot from the heat and add the strawberry puree and coconut cream. Set aside while you whip the aquafaba.
- Use electric beaters or the whisk attachment of an immersion blender to whip the aquafaba into firm peaks like egg whites. It takes 4 – 5 minutes to reach the firm peak stage.
- Return the pot to medium heat and when the strawberry mix is warmed through whisk in the agar agar. Continue whisking as it simmers until it thickens and looks like melted jelly. This takes just a minute or two.
- Transfer to a bowl and gently fold in the aquafaba one tablespoon at a time. Try to maintain as much air as possible in the mix. Pour into your tart pans and put them in the fridge to solidify. For tarts this size it takes just 10 – 15 minutes to set through.
- Gently remove them from their pans and decorate as you like. You can also make these a day ahead and keep them in their pans and covered in cling film until you’re ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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dannie says
Lovely ,I appreciate your creativity.
Anila says
Is there an alternative for aguafaba? I don’t use canned chickpeas.
Melissa says
No, the aquafaba is important for this recipe to work as written.