Coconut Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Last week, I posted about a low carb party menu that I was working on for the weekend.  I thought I would make this paleo-friendly coconut chocolate mousse I had read about on marksdailyapple.com.  Well.  I made it.  Unfreaking believably good.  I had to tweak the recipe a little bit, because there was an issue with the fat content of the coconut milk I had in my pantry (not really creamy enough).  Also, I've borrowed a "separatory funnel" technique that I learned to clarify butter, and applied it to separating the coconut cream from the watery coconut liquid.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

• 2 x 13.5 oz cans of coconut milk (preferably organic, NOT light)
• 1 x 3.5 oz bar of dark chocolate, melted and cooled (I used IKEA's 60% dark chocolate bar)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (it happened to be liquified)

Directions:

1. Put a large, ziplock storage bag inside of a medium bowl.  Pour the contents of both cans of coconut milk into the ziplock bag, get as much of the air out of the bag as you can, and seal.  Place the whole thing on the lowest shelf of your fridge, and chill for at least 8 hours. 
2. 8 hours later... melt the dark chocolate in the microwave at 1 minutes intervals, until melted, stirring between each interval.  Let it sit on the counter and cool a bit while you complete the next step.
3. Separating the coconut cream from the water: First, get the mixing bowl out that you intend to use to whip the coconut cream, and do the same with the container that you intend to use to store the coconut water - place them next to each other on the counter.  Remove your bowl from the fridge.  Second, gently grasp the bag of separated coconut milk by the seal (careful not to mix it up), and holding the bag over the coconut water bowl, snip off a small part of one corner of the bag with scissors.  Third, let all of the coconut water go into the coconut water bowl.  Fourth, when it appears that mostly coconut cream is left in the bag, quickly move the bag so that it is over the mixing bowl, and squeeze the remaining coconut cream into that bowl (it is okay if a little coconut water is left in there).
4. Whip the coconut cream with a whisk, or mixer, until it appears to be slightly fluffier.  Add the melted, cooled chocolate and the coconut oil to the bowl, and continue to whisk until thoroughly combined.
5. Divide the mixture into 4 little cups, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours on the lowest shelf of your fridge. 
6. Serve, with a little unsweeted whipped cream, and a couple of raspberries.  Each serving is about 1/2 cup.

The result is amazing: the mousse is dense, rich and creamy.  The flavor is deeply chocolate-y, with only a slight floral hint of coconut.  My guests - none of whom were either low carb or paleo, enjoyed the heck out of dessert.  I had one with them on Saturday, and one after dinner on Sunday, and it was phenomenal. 

The best news is that, as of Sunday night, I am in ketosis!  So, color this recipe low-carb induction friendly, as well.

Some ideas for future experimentation:  This would be PHENOMENAL frozen, either as a kind of sorbet, or as a fudgsicle-type ice pop.