Why you’ll love it
Perfect for the coffee lovers in your life, this coffee mousse is seriously delicious with the perfect coffee kick and a delectably light and creamy texture. It’s wickedly good!
All you need are 5 very simple ingredients and either some chocolate or cocoa for topping which takes it to a whole other level. Now, just set aside 15 minutes or so to make them and let the fridge do the rest of the work.
On top of all that amazingness is the fact that it can be made ahead so it’s perfect for entertaining! And great for the holidays when you want to indulge but don’t want to be leaving everything until the last minute.
You’ll love this easy eggless chocolate mousse and these tiramisu tartlets too.
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Ingredients for coffee mousse
The ingredients here are very simple but one thing you won’t find in this coffee mousse that many mousse recipes do have is eggs. This is an eggless mousse but it’s still decadent and rich, yet light and fluffy too.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Cream: You’ll need whipping cream or heavy whipping cream for this one. Thickened cream or heavy cream will also work as long as they’re full fat versions. If you can, get a cream that contains nothing but milk/cream. Many these days have stabilisers and things and they’re just not necessary and actually ruin the texture of the mousse.
- Coffee: I use instant coffee granules here. You can also use instant coffee powder or espresso powder but cut it down to 3 teaspoons – as it’s finer, a full tablespoon will actually contain more coffee than a tablespoon of granules. If you want to use coffee from your machine, just get ¼ cup of strong coffee and leave the water out of the recipe.
- Sugar: I use caster sugar since it dissolves quicker but white granulated sugar will work just fine as well. Just make sure your mixture doesn’t boil while you’re trying to dissolve it.
- Gelatine powder: I always use powder. I’ve never used gelatine sheets so I can’t say how many or what type you would need. For a vegetarian version, agar agar works too.
- Vanilla: The vanilla extract is there to intensify the coffee flavour and add a little depth of flavour.
Classic mousse uses raw egg yolks and egg whites to get the richness and light and fluffy texture. I’m not a fan of raw eggs in desserts though it’s perfectly safe if you store your eggs in the fridge. This easy mousse recipe has no raw eggs and relies on the cream being whipped to get both the richness and light and fluffy texture.
How to make coffee mousse (step by step)
Coffee mousse is truly simple to make.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Make the coffee syrup: Start by dissolving gelatine in water in a saucepan (photo 1) over low heat but don’t let it boil. Now add the coffee and sugar and dissolve that too (photo 2). Now chill the coffee syrup in a large bowl (photo 3) in the fridge until below room temperature.
- Whip the cream: Pour the cold cream into a large bowl and use a electric mixer, or balloon whisk if you have some good arm strength, and whip until it reaches stiff peaks (photo 4) … just … don’t overwhip or it will split.
- Combine the cream and coffee: First, add the vanilla to the coffee mixture, then add ¼ of the whipped cream and just give it a mix to loosen it (photo 5). Now, add the cream in 3 more parts folding it very gently together each time (photo 6). Don’t mix, just fold.
- Transfer to glasses and chill: Now, you just need to spoon the mousse into your dessert glasses (photo 7) or bowls and chill. You can make 4 large and indulgent mousses but if you make 6, they’ll still be very satisfying especially if you top them with chocolate curls or shavings right before serving.
Tips and tricks
This coffee mousse is actually incredibly simple to make but there are a few tips worth mentioning when working with cream and gelatine.
- Use cold cream: Cold cream will whip best. If it’s not cold, it will either take a long time or not whip at all and it won’t get as much volume into it.
- Don’t overwhip the cream: If you beat cream too far, it will turn grainy so, as you’re beating it and can see it thickening, check it regularly until it just hits firm peak stage. Grainy cream looks terrible, and the texture feels awful on your tongue but hey, technically you’re well on your way to making butter.
- Make sure the gelatine is fully dissolved: I love using a rubber spatula whenever I’m dissolving gelatine in a pan because you can use it to rub any undissolved bits of gelatine against the pan. If you leave bits of undissolved gelatine, two things can happen. First, you might get jelly-like globules of tasteless gelatine in a mouthful of mousse and secondly, your mousse may not set as nicely since the gelatine is not evenly distributed through the whole dessert.
- Don’t boil the gelatine: The last really important tip is to not let the gelatine mixture come to a bubble, ever. Letting it boil will affect the efficacy of the gelatine meaning it won’t allow your mousse to set properly.
- Be gentle when folding: It’s really important not to knock all the air out of the cream, so make sure to use a gentle folding motion when combining it with the coffee syrup.
- If your coffee syrup sets when it’s in the fridge, just heat in the microwave for 3-5 seconds at a time until it’s liquid again.
Ways to top your homemade mousse
I love the simplicity of some easy shaved chocolate but make sure to use a good quality chocolate. I just do this by running a vegetable peeler down the edge of a block of room temp chocolate. I use a really good quality dark chocolate since the mousse doesn’t need any further sweetness.
You can also grab some Flakes and crumble them up on top or just dust the tops with cocoa powder. You could also drizzle over some melted chocolate – once the chocolate sets it will provide a satisfying crack on top of the dessert, a little like the sugar topping on this coffee creme brulee.
Storage
These easy eggless mousse cups will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Cover them tightly with plastic wrap and don’t keep them beyond the use by date of the cream or after 3 days.
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (4 tsp, see notes 1)
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup caster sugar or white granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon powdered gelatine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups whipping cream, cold
- Cocoa or chocolate shavings to serve
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- 1 Medium or small saucepan
- Electric mixer or balloon whisk
- 1 large mixing bowls
- Dessert glasses or bowls
Instructions
- Place the water into a medium saucepan over low heat and sprinkle the gelatine over the top. Stir constantly until you see the gelatine is fully dissolved. A silicone or rubber spatula is best here so you can rub any bits of gelatine against the side of the pan to help them dissolve. Don’t let it boil.
- Add the coffee granules and sugar and continue stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Again, don’t let it boil.
- Transfer the coffee mixture to a large mixing bowl and place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes until cooler than room temperature. It should be a thick syrup but not set to a jelly.
- Once the coffee syrup is cool, pour the cold cream into a separate large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat to firm peaks. Be careful not to overwhip or it will become grainy – you just want it to get the point where a peak holds it’s shape, just.
- Stir the vanilla into the coffee syrup.
- Add one quarter of the whipped cream to the coffee syrup and stir to loosen.
- Add another quarter of the whipped cream and switch to a folding motion. Gently folding until just combined. The aim with folding is to lift from the bottom and fold over the top so as not to knock out air.
- Repeat two more times with the remaining cream. The mixture should feel light and fluffy and be able to hold it’s shape and not settle back into itself.
- Divide the mixture evenly between small dessert glasses and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Sprinkle with chocolate shavings or dust with cocoa to serve.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Coffee flavor: Make sure to use coffee granules or only use 3 teaspoons if using coffee powder. In saying that, if you like your coffee really strong, go up to 5-6 teaspoons and it’s like a really strong sweet latte. You can also just make 1/4 cup of strong espresso from your coffee maker and leave out the water from the recipe.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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2 Comments on “Coffee Mousse”
I tend to agree with you Marie about the raw eggs in desserts. So even with my version of a dessert like tiramisu I use marscapone, whipping cream and yoghurt as the creamy layer with no eggs. Most don’t seem to notice a huge difference.
I love coffee desserts so I am looking forward to trying this one. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Pamela. And I know they’re perfectly safe, it’s just one of those things in my brain haha. Hope you love it. Also, I love your idea of using yoghurt in tiramisu. I’m definitely going to try that.