Easy Vegan Passionfruit Mousse

A recipe for an easy Vegan Passionfruit (Lilikoi) Mousse.

Remember the Covid lockdown days?  (Is it ok to say that yet?)  

I think a lot of people did interesting and out-of-their-ordinary  things that year.  Started new hobbies.  Read extra books.  Learned a foreign language or how to play a musical instrument…

Will you look back on 2020 as the year you did something new?

Well, I grew out my bangs.  That’s about it.  🤷‍♀️  (Otherwise my life wasn’t so different from normal b/c I homeschool and rarely leave the house, haha.) But I am pretty excited about the bang grow-out.  Just sayin’.

Dave’s 2020 things was that he took his backyard tropical garden to the next level.  He planted every tropical fruit we knew of and a few we had never heard of.  

And now that it’s summer 2021, we are seeing some of the fruit of his labor (see the pun there? 😂 )

We’ve harvested  papaya and bananas like usual, as well as ginger, dragonfruit, mango, avocado, about 3 blueberries, and most recently, lilikoi.   (note: I think lilikoi and passionfruit are the same thing, just different names, and in Hawaii people tend to call them lilikoi so that’s what I typically call them.)

Now, if you’ve ever been around lilikoi before, you probably remember the scent. Oh my goodness!  The smell of lilikoi is distinct and strong.  It is altogether tropical and heavenly.  Sometimes just having one ripe lilikoi sit in your kitchen can be a bit overpowering to the senses!  

Lilikoi grows on a vine, and it is ripe when the skin gets dark and a little bit wrinkly.  When you cut into them, the outer layer is thick and fibrous, and the inside just looks like squishy goop and seeds.  (I should be a food writer, shouldn’t I? haha)  But it tastes amazing!  Slightly tart and sweet and, well, unlike anything else. 

When we harvested our first crop of lilikoi a few weeks ago, I really wanted to do something with them.  The internet provided me with a number of dessert recipes, but I wanted to go a healthier route, and ended up playing with (and slightly modifying)  THIS recipe from…Savoryspin.com.

I actually made this for Jonah’s 20th birthday and it was a wonderful treat!  A refreshing finish to a big meal!  The amazing thing is that so little lilikoi was able to go so far!  All you need is 2-3 to make dessert for the whole family. (That’s six of us.)  You could use a single lilikoi to make enough mousse for three people! 

The main ingredients in this recipe are cashews, coconut milk, and real maple syrup. Not exactly calorie-free, but definitely more nutritious than a typical dessert. And I’m not kidding — I have made this three times this week, and we are all craving more!

I’m not sure how easy it is to find lilikoi (passionfruit) where you live. I wanted to be sure that if you wanted to try a summer vegan mousse recipe you could use other flavors, so I made the same recipe a couple more times.  Once with raspberries and once with cocoa.  My personal opinion is that fruit is the best way to go with this one. Raspberries were good.  The chocolate was “just ok” and I’m guessing there are better recipes out there for healthy chocolate mousse.  (Or just try this reader favorite vegan chocolate dessert for a big win.)  But really —  if you can find yourself a lilikoi (or three,) you’d be crazy not to try this recipe using them! 

Below I am sharing the recipe for passionfruit (lilikoi) mousse, but please feel free to substitute any fruit you like.  Since you blend these ingredients, just about anything will work.  Just use as much fruit as you want flavor! (see notes for my raspberry version.)

I will also add that this recipe makes 4-5 small servings.  It is quite rich so a 1/2 cup serving is satisfying.  For bigger servings (or for more people) make the recipe at 1.5 or 2X the ingredients! 

5 from 3 votes

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Easy Vegan Passionfruit Mousse

a Healthy, raw, fruity mousse.

Course dessert/snack

Keyword vegan, raw, healthy

Prep Time 15 minutes

refrigerate 2 hours

Servings 5

Calories 309 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashews unsalted
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 lilikoi fruit
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 cup water
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp chia seeds Optional

Instructions

1. Soak the cashews in water, squeezing lemon into them. Let them soak for 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Drain water and place cashews in a powerful blender (I use a Vitamixer, but a food processor would also work.)

3. Add coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, chia seeds, and the seeds and pulp from passion fruit (lilikoi) into the blender.

4. Blend until smooth. Seeds should become small black specks (along with the chia seeds, if you are using them.)

5. Divide the mixture into 4-5 glass serving dishes, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. (the longer you refrigerate, the more firm the texture will get.)

6. Serve with coconut whipped cream, coconut flakes, or more passion fruit pulp to taste.

Recipe Notes

I tried this recipe with 1/2 cup raspberries and a tbsp. monk fruit (calorie free) sweetener and it was good, but the raspberry flavor was not very strong.   If you use anything other than lilikoi you might want to add extra fruit. 

Nutrition Facts

Easy Vegan Passionfruit Mousse

Amount Per Serving

Calories 309 Calories from Fat 198

% Daily Value*

Fat 22g34%

Saturated Fat 11g69%

Trans Fat 1g

Polyunsaturated Fat 3g

Monounsaturated Fat 7g

Sodium 15mg1%

Potassium 345mg10%

Carbohydrates 26g9%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 15g17%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 4IU0%

Vitamin C 6mg7%

Calcium 61mg6%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Hope you love it.  Please comment and tell me if you’ve had lilikoi (passionfruit) and how you would describe it! 😃 
Share this recipe using Pinterest or on social media (♥️) and let me know how you love it! 

xo