Can I Leave The Butter Out Of Instant Chocolate Mousse?

Our answer

Nigella's Instant Chocolate Mousse (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) is made with a mixture of melted marshmallows, chocolate, butter and milk that is cooled and folded into whipped cream. The gelatine in the marshmallows helps the mousse to set very quickly, hence it is "instant".

We assume that if you are making the mousse dairy free then you are using plant-based milk and cream alternatives. We would mention that not all of the cream alternatives whip well, so make sure you have one that can be whipped and keep it and your bowl and whisk very cold to help it to whip properly. Most plant-based creams have a lower fat content than double cream, so we would not omit the butter as this adds some extra fat and body to the mousse. There are plenty of plant-based spreads available and you can choose your favourite to use as an alternative, but we would suggest trying to use one that comes in a block as this will set more quickly when chilled. Also, if the plant-based spread is unsalted then we would suggest adding a pinch of fine sea salt to the melted chocolate mixture, as this will help to lift the flavour a little.