Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

With the warm weather slowly melting away the winter's snow comes hope of brighter things. I'm talking about fruit! We are beginning to see a few shoots and leaves emerging from the once frozen ground and natures fruity-jewels will soon be overflowing gardens and in our vegan grocery baskets.

Although we can certainly enjoy them raw, there are also a number of amazing recipes beyond the typical pie tart.

I recently purchased a large amount of strawberries and wanted to use them up before they all deteriorated. Something that would be impressive and go beyond the typical pie, cake, or smoothie. The idea of a mousse came to mind and I quickly scoured the internet to find recipes. There are many variations, including all sorts of vegan substitutes like tofu, coconut flour, tapioca, vegan yogurt and coconut oil. Based on what I found, (and what I had available in my pantry) I created this version which was a combination of several other recipes.

It turned out amazingly and has a flavor of creamy strawberry jam with subtle hints of coconut. The texture is slightly more dense than a regular mousse because of the tapioca flour, so if you prefer something a little more fluffy, use half the amount.

For four servings

1 cup strawberries plus 4 for garnish

1 cup full fat coconut milk

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons Agar-Agar powder

1 teaspoon tapioca flour

Method

Combine all ingredients (minus 4 strawberries) in a blender and blend for 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium-sized sauce pan gently heat, making sure to constantly stir. (It is important or else it may burn!) After 5 minutes or so, the paste will thicken. Gently spoon the paste into serving containers and chill for at least one hour. *Agar sets quickly so move as fast as you can. Serve with sliced strawberries, or your favorite fresh berries.

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