Vegan Mango Banana Mousse

I’m so looking forward to setting sail to the Panama Canal next month for the 2017 Vegan Vacation at Sea with the Vegan Cruise Planners. I’ll be joining the Vegan Black Metal Chef, The Vegan Zombie, and Laurel Anderson for this wonderful Last year’s Vegan Cruise to Alaska was truly life-changing, and I am ready for this tropical version.

We will be sailing on the Holland America Line’s ms Zuiderdam from Ft. Lauderdale to Half Moon Cay, Aruba, Curacao, Panama Canal, and Costa Rica. Vegan Cruise Planners Franci and Curtis Kettman are focused on one thing: providing an absolutely FUN sailing, complete with awesome vegan cuisine and awesome vegan people. We’ll al be enjoying excellent meals and snacks, special shore excursions, nighlife and to be sure, making new lifelong friends! Vegan Vacation at Sea will tempt your vegan sensibilities and taste buds with these exclusive offerings, but believe me, you need not be vegan to come along with us!

Cooking demonstrations in the ms Zuiderdam’s fantastic Culinary Arts Center
Exclusive vegan menu
Exclusive vegan shore excursions available only for our group
Exclusive vegan private parties and social events
A vegan swag bag

Sailing dates are October 30th through November 9th, 2016. (Bring your Halloween costume friends!) Franci and Curtis are your exclusive booking agent for the Vegan Vacation at Sea 2016. (You cannot book into our group with another agency or direct with the cruise line.) If you’re ready to join the fun call us at 800.253.1984 or use the easy online registration tool: www.tinyurl.com/vvas2016

To get myself into a tropical state of mind, I’m nibbling on some Mango Banana Mousse with Coconut Fluff Cream. This just might be one of the recipes that I demo and you get to taste on the cruise.

Mango Banana Mousse

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

4 tsp. arrowroot
3 tbsp room temperature water
9 ounces unsweetened dried mango (sulfite-free), cut into small pieces
4 to 5 cups unsweetened mango juice
1/4 cup agar flakes
1 (12.3 ounce) shelf stable box, firm or extra-firm silken tofu
2 small ripe bananas (1 for the mousse, the other for serving)
zest of half an orange
2 tbsp orange juice
zest of 1 small organic lime.
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
ripe fresh mango, diced

Preparaton

In a small bowl, dissolve arrowroot in the water.
Put mango into medium heatproof bowl.
Pour 3 cups of the mango juice into small saucepan, cook to a boil. Pour the heated juice over the mango and set aside 1 hour or longer, until the mango is very soft. Drier fruit will take longer, and you may find it more convenient to soak the fruit overnight in the refrigerator.
Drain the mango, reserving the juice. Cool juice to room temperature.
Puree the mango in a food processor. Add a small amount of the cooking juice to get a smooth, but thick puree if needed. Add the tofu, 1 of the bananas, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla to the mango purée, and process until no specks of tofu are visible and the mixture is very creamy. Set aside in the food processor.
Measure the agar into a medium saucepan. Add enough additional mango juice to the soaking juice to measure 1 1/4 cups and pour over the agar. Do not stir or heat. Set aside for 10 minutes or longer to allow the agar to soften. (This will help the agar dissolve thoroughly and easily; the equivalent to blooming gelatin)
Cook to a simmer over medium low heat without stirring. At the simmer, whisk, making sure to reach the bottom of the saucepan to release any bits of agar that may be stuck. Immediately reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover the saucepan and simmer 5 minutes.
Uncover and whisk. Do a visual check to see if the agar has fully dissolved Dip a soup spoon into the gel for any specks of agar. If necessary, cover and simmer longer until the agar has completely dissolved.
Stir the dissolved arrowroot with a fork to release starch that has settled in the bottom. Add the arrowroot slurry, whisking constantly. The mixture will be very thick and may sputter rather boil. As soon as you see heaving in middle of mixture, remove from the heat. (If you cook or stir arrowroot-thickened mixtures after they have boiled, they are likely to become thin again.)
Add to mango mixture in the food processor and pulse a few times to blend, and then process for 30 seconds to incorporate.
Do a test of the consistency: Refrigerate a small amount of the mousse in a ramekin. Properly made, the consistency will be quite firm but taste creamy
Transfer to a shallow dish, cover, and refrigerate about 45 minutes, or until set.
Make the Mango Banana Mousse: About 30 minutes before serving, spoon the set mousse into the food processor and pulse until creamed.
Layer the mousse with the diced mango. Top with a few banana slices and a dollop coconut whipped cream and toasted coconut.