Coconut and Berries

Healthy, Vegan Recipes by Emma Potts

Creamy Carob Chia Mousse

Stopping by with a little weekend treat for you and an update on how things are going with me. If you read my Lemon-Coconut Fudge Bites post you’ll know I’ve been dealing with some health issues and have been on a mission to get to the bottom of them

Well, I’m pleased to be able to say that some of the problems have completely cleared up! I don’t know if it’s the result of the herbal and supplements prescribed by my naturopath that I’ve been taking, the anti-candida diet (no sugar, fruit, gluten, yeast, fungi, etc. ) that I’ve been following for nearly a month, getting lots of rest, or a combination of everything. Whatever it is, I’m just happy to be feeling so much better! I do still have a lingering problem which hasn’t left me yet but I’m feeling much more optimistic.

Now that’s me out of the way we can move on to something more fun- dessert!

Creamy Carob Chia Pudding

A few things have really helped me not feel deprived on this program, one of them being carob. It seems to have picked up a bad reputation as being a “health food” only eaten by those granola-munching hippie folk, or as an inferior substitute for chocolate. I want to encourage you to throw away those stereotypes and see it in its own right as just another tasty addition to your diet. I does bear some similarity to cocoa but it’s got a natural sweetness that cocoa doesn’t, it also doesn’t contain caffeine which is what makes it suitable for the anti-candida diet.

I guess I have been enjoying carob as a sort of replacement for my beloved dark chocolate. In the UK, Plamil Foods and Siesta both do unsweetened carob bars which are amazing! You can even get mint and orange flavoured ones! But, even if I COULD have chocolate right now I’d be eating carob too, along with this mousse!

Creamy Carob Chia Pudding

I’ve been enjoying chia puddings for some time now but was introduced to the idea of a blended chia pudding by Dreena Burton. The smooth texture is much more pleasant to me and transforms the pudding into a fluffy, thick mousse! With my newfound love of carob I had to make a carob version. Turns out I wasn’t alone in thinking this was a good idea and Adrienne of Whole New Mom also has a recipe which I’ve adapted here.

I’ve mostly been eating savoury breakfasts at the moment but enjoyed this yummy carob chia mousse one morning for a real treat.

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Creamy Carob Chia Mousse

Yield: 2-3 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 Can/ 1-1/2 C “light” Coconut milk
  • 1/4 C Chia seeds
  • 3 Tbsp (heaped) Carob powder
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 2-3 Tbsp Liquid sweetener (Agave nectar, Maple Syrup, etc.) (I used 1T Yacon syrup + 10 Drops of Stevia as I’m still following the anti-candida diet)

Instructions

  1. If you don’t have a high-powered blender grind the chia seeds to a fine meal in a coffee grinder first. Then add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until very smooth.
  2. Pour into serving bowls and allow to sit in the fridge for at least an hour to thicken up before eating.
http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/01/10/creamy-carob-chia-mousse/

Do you like carob? Have you actually tried it?

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Comments

  1. Glad you’re feeling better! I’ve tried to make chia pudding before (unsuccessfully), but I’ll try this one for sure. Maybe my new Ninja will do a better job.

  3. When I lived over there I used to LOVE those Siesta bars :)

    This carob mousse sounds to die for! I love carob- while not a substitute for chocolate in my books, it is delicious in it’s own right. Good job sticking to your diet, so glad you are feeling better!

  4. Hear hear, carob is delicious once you drop the pretense that it should taste like chocolate! Of course it would have it’s own unique character, since it’s an entirely different ingredient for crying out loud. Thank you for doing it proper justice with this luscious mousse. It looks fantastic.

  5. You’re featuring lots of my favourite ingredients this week :) I adore carob and thank my mother’s influence as she gave it to us as children. I love cocoa and chocolate too, but think carob has its place and chocolate has its place and I like them both equally but in different ways. This mousse looks like a great way to feature it!

  6. Glad you’re feeling better. I’ve loved carob ever since I discovered it, but it seems it is not popular anymore in cookbooks, while I used to hear about it more in the nineties. Since I mostly cook from cookbooks, I rarely use carob… and I believe I do have a carob bag I bought a long while back to fix the situation, but I’m not even sure I’ve opened it.

    Do you think it’d be good with just soy milk instead of coco milk? I’m not too fond of chia pudding, because you really have to chew it, but I’ve never tried to grind the seeds before.

    • Thank you :) I do much prefer blended chia pudding. You get the thickness without the lumpiness!
      Glad you love carob too. I think you’re right that you don’t see too many recipes using it anymore. We need to change that.
      Soy milk would be fine though the pudding would be less rich. If you still want the richness but don’t want to use coconut milk, try blending in some cashews instead

        • Well… it turns out I didn’t have any chia seeds, but my mind was so set on making this that I subbed flax seeds. And I actually had some regular coconut milk, but I put half soy milk/half coconut milk. And it was lovely! I had a bit of it straight away and I don’t know if it’s going to get thicker (right now it’s like a thick smoothie), but I definitely will try it again when I buy more chia seeds. My boyfriend too said it was a success. Thank you!

  7. This looks delicious. I’m a chocolate lover but I’ve never actually tried carob. I would like to try it some day when I can find it easily maybe I’ll get some on amazon.com to try.

    • You have to try it! Don’t think of it as chocolate though- it’s got its own unique flavour. I hope you can get your hands on some carob soon. It’s fairly widely available in health food stores these days.

  11. It’s good to hear you are feeling better already! I used to have issues with candida too, but I haven’t since I stopped eating meat. I still eat quite a lot of sugar, but I eat much less refined sugar. I also stopped drinking coke cola, that must have helped too 😉 On the carob: I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to get used to it’s distinct flavour. I have a jar full in my pantry somewhere… I’ve tried it mostly in vegan overnight oats.

    • Thanks Marielle :) I don’t even know if it is candida, test results take ages to come through but if it is I’m hoping it’s such a mild case. I rarely eat refined sugar, obviously no meat or dairy so I thought I was doing everything right!

      That’s a shame you haven’t liked carob so far, maybe this mousse will convert you 😉

  13. Happy things are on the up for you! I don’t eat carob as much as i should or could since i have loads of it (that i randomly bought in bulk!) i find it nice mixed with berries in porridge when i want a semi sweet kick without adding extra sweetener as its naturally sweeter than cacao.

    • oooh tell me where to buy in bulk! It’s definitely nice that you can use it without sweetener. I just love unsweetened carob bars or mixing the powder with nut butter for a yummy treat :)

  16. i’m so glad to hear you’re feeling better! it sounds so hard not being able to eat sweets, fruit and chocolate, but i knew that if one person was talented enough to still make it work and create delicious things, it would be you! i love this mousse idea! i’ve never blended up my chia puds (why make the vitamix dirty) but you convinced me to give it a try. o, and i love carob!

    • You should try it blended. It’s quite different to regular chia pudding, still thick but fluffy and smooth obviously 😉
      You’re so sweet. I am missing fruit but am going to experiment with adding back in some low sugar fruits now and see how I feel…wish me luck!

  17. So pleased to hear you’re feeling much better! 😀
    We love smooth chia puddings, especially choc/banana and choc/orange flavours. I like carob but have never used it myself as I’ve found it difficult to find in the shops.Do you know if Harvest stocks it now?

  19. It’s been a lonnng while since I last had carob, and I’ve never tried chia in any form yet, so this will be a delicious new step forward. All I have for blending now is a Magic Bullet, but very much looking forward to some kitchen tool shopping as the year unfolds. Glad you’re feeling better.

  23. Goodie goodie gosh - had no idea that you were following the Candida diet as well - nor that you have a flat in Bath!!! (green with envy :o) I love your dessert creations and always happy to share them with my readers. Take care

    • Hehe. I’ve been following for about a month now. It hasn’t been the easiest but much better than I thought and I’m feeling the benefits. Thank you for your kind words :)

  24. Sorry to hear about your health issues, how are you feeling right now? I’m happy to know that you’re feeling a lot better now, sometimes there are some ingredients or foreign ingredients that may affect our diet. I get skin reactions or nauseous (stomach pains) after consuming a foreign dish, or unhygenic dishes (the usual outdoor food markets). Carob is a yummy ingredient in desserts, I would love to give it a try! x Rika

  25. I love this recipe! I had tried puddings made with whole chia seed, but I like the texture of this so much more. I didn’t have the coconut milk, but I used regular unsweetened almond milk with an added 1/4 cup of cashews to make it a little creamier-it gelled up very nicely. Served it with unsweetened coconut shreds and a little no-sugar-added chocolate sauce that has been sitting in my fridge. Delicious!

    • So pleased to hear it was a success with you Diana! A coconut and chocolate sauce topping sounds perfect 😀

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