Have you seen the Marshmallow Experiment video? Researchers plop a single marshmallow down in front of a child in a closed room and explain, “You can eat the marshmallow now, or wait to eat it and I will bring you another one.”A hidden video camera records the hilarious results. A few kids stoically wait, face glazed over with determination, masters of delayed gratification. Others succumb to the temptation and lick, nibble, or gulp the treat.
I’ve always had strong willpower, and I can imagine little six-year-old me sitting fiercely motionless until I earned the second marshmallow. But this recipe crushed my patience.
After blending the ingredients together, I stuck a spoon in the food processor bowl and scooped out a generous taste of the unset mousse. My tastebuds jumped into happy dance mode! I poured the mixture into a bowl and set it in the fridge to set. The mousse did not rest peacefully, however, because I kept prodding, poking, and tasting it–just like the kids from the marshmallow video. Finally, four hours later, I was rewarded with a creamy mousse theoretically equal to many, many delayed-gratification marshmallows.
Grassfed gelatin for a simple mousse
Traditional mousses rely on an arduous process of whipping and heating eggs for a stabilized base. Many alternative mousse recipes use pureed nuts or even thyroid-supressing, infertility-promoting tofu. Gelatin, creamed coconut, and coconut milk provide a sturdy yet fluffy base for this mousse.
This recipe took a lot of experimentation to perfect (yeah, poor me–having to eat all of those mistakes). I am beyond pleased with the final result, which tastes like a bite of whipped strawberry shortcake! The texture perfectly balances light, rich, creamy, and sweet.
Creamed Coconut is pureed coconut meat. I like this brand because it is the most economical, but you could also substitute coconut butter.
Why grassfed gelatin? I discuss some of the health benefits of gelatin in my Gelatin Coconut Flour Pancakes post.
- 1 cup canned coconut milk
- 2 Tbs. grassfed gelatin
- 1 cup whole strawberries (I used thawed frozen, organic ones)
- 2 Tbs. creamed coconut or coconut butter, liquified (optional)
- About 2 Tbs. raw honey, to taste
- Pinch of salt
- In a saucepan, whisk together coconut milk and gelatin. Let sit for 5 minutes. Then turn on the burner and whisk over medium heat until gelatin is dissolved. Let cool.
- Puree the strawberries in a food processor or blender. Add the cooled coconut milk mixture, creamed coconut, honey and salt. Blend, then taste and adjust honey, if necessary. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.
- Before serving, transfer the chilled mixture to a food processor. Puree until creamy and serve. If the mousse is too thick, add more coconut milk, a teaspoon at a time. You can store leftover whipped mousse in the fridge, but for best results re-whip it in in a food processor after letting it sit in the fridge.
that looks AMAZING! the perfect summer cool treat! i’d be sneaking little tastes too!!! 😉
Thanks Caralyn!
I’m going to have to get some of that creamed coconut – this looks so good! I agree about tofu .. whenever I see a recipe that has tofu, I run screaming 🙂 This looks so good … and painless! 🙂
The creamed coconut is my new favorite ingredient–it is so versatile!
Looking good. Found you via Beyond the Peel’s Keep it Real Thursday. I linked in Coronation Chicken – a dish with a dash of history! Cheers
Ps As I am commenting on things this week I am reminding people that if you turn off your word verification stuff people will find it much easier to comment on your posts. Give it a go! If you are not sure how to do it, give me a yell by commenting on Carole’s Chatter and I’ll send you a step by step guide I did for a blog friend.
Carol, thanks for the tip about word verification! I changed it to off. It was a really helpful suggestion, and thanks for visiting! I look forward to exploring your blog.
so happy you worked out how to do it, fantastic. Have a good weekend
Yum!
I think there’s a little bit of 6 year old in all of us – I also would not be able to wait!
To me, this is way better than a marshmallow!!!! LOL
xoxo
would love it if you shared another recipe at the potluck party – we’re doing Raw Food this time 😉
Oh beautiful!
I love your fire pit – wowzers!
I couldn’t take my eyes off your sunsets 😉
You’re right these are the best things about summer 😉
My summer happiness is not having a schedule around school and just going for walks whenever we want 😉
xoxoxo
Heather ~ Would love to see you at the latest Potluck Party – this week it’s all about Raw Food 😉 xoxo
http://www.lifeologia.com/potluck-party-raw-vegan-diet-food-recipes/
Hey Ella! I think this is better than marshmallow, too 🙂 I don’t have any raw food recipes to share, but I will certainly visit the potluck party and I look forward to exploring new raw food recipes!
Yum! I love anything and strawberries. I will have to try this soon. I found you from Not Your Ordinary Recipes (right behind you in the party!). I’ll be back again 🙂
Thanks for visiting! I look forward to exploring your website! Not Your Ordinary Recipes is such a great resource for discovering other food bloggers.
Lauren, love this!! It looks so smooth and decadent, yet light and fluffy! Delish! Thanks for linking to Foodtastic Friday!
Thanks for hosting! I’ll be there this week!
such wonderful recipe. I had a few fresh coconuts in the fridge to make some milk from. now I know on what I’m going to use one of them 🙂
I wonder if I could use guar gum in place of gelatin…
You might have luck with guar gum, but I think agar agar would work better. Fresh coconut milk would be divine in this recipe! I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for the recipe but I was wondering, isn’t agar agar illegal on gaps?
(source: http://www.gutandpsychologysyndrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/GAPS-Diet-Foods.pdf )
Yes, agar agar is illegal on both GAPS and SCD. I should make that clear in the recipe–thank you for bringing that to my attention! I listed it as an option for those who follow a vegan diet (which I do not recommend!) and are not on SCD/GAPS.
Great post! I’ll have to try this as soon as I buy some of the pasture raised gelatin.
Just an fyi – your link to the crumble topping isn’t working. I had to remove the “blogspot” from the address to get to the site. http://empoweredsustenance.blogspot.com/2012/07/allergen-free-crumble-topping-for.html
Thank you for telling me! I’ll try to fix that!
this looks great! I tried to click on the link for the “Allergen free crumble topping” you listed in your commentary before the recipe and the link did not work. Just wanted to let you know. Can’t wait to make this for my family!
Thank you, and I’ll try to fix that link!