These rich chocolate mousse cups contain no sugar but offer a whole lot of satisfying sweetness from monk fruit, a natural plant-based sweetener. Not only that, but they are egg free by using aquafaba whipped up into fluffy stiffness. The result is a light, airy, and most definitely chocolatey mousse which is paired with the perfect partner—ginger and vanilla poached pears.

Working with monk fruit

Monk fruit and erythritol blends are referred to as cup-for-cup replacements for sugar, meaning they can be substituted one for one in recipes. However, they’re also significantly sweeter than sugar, so you may need to adjust the amounts for your own recipes.

Monk fruit with erythritol also tends to crystallize when used in syrups. You can avoid this by keeping the ratio of water to sweetener at 2:1 and by using a tiny amount of xanthan gum. It’s also important to avoid drastic heat changes. Let warm syrup cool completely to room temperature before placing in the fridge. To save you time on the day, you can poach the pears the night before and keep them in syrup in the fridge overnight. If crystallization does occur, heat the syrup gently and let it cool at room temperature before proceeding.