This vegan lemon mousse is sweet, tangy, and irresistibly creamy — yet light and fluffy at the same time. Made with just a handful of ingredients, it's an easy, elegant dessert that’s perfect for spring celebrations of all kinds.
The secret to the airy texture of this vegan lemon mousse is aquafaba — the liquid from a can of chickpeas. This stuff whips up like egg whites but keeps the recipe completely plant-based. It's worked like a charm for me in other recipes like my vegan ladyfingers, and it did the trick this time as well! Combining aquafaba with rich coconut cream and lemon flavors creates a dessert that's flavorful, rich and indulgent, but also light and fluffy.
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Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Coconut cream. This product is sold in cans, usually right near the coconut milk at the grocery store. Make sure you don't buy creamed coconut or cream of coconut. These are totally different products!
- Powdered sugar. We're using organic powdered sugar to keep the recipe vegan, since conventional sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Lemon juice. You only want to use freshly squeezed juice here. Lemon is the star flavor of this dessert after all!
- Lemon zest.
- Lemon extract. Sold in the baking aisle, this will give the lemon flavor a little more umph!
- Salt.
- Yellow food coloring. This is optional, and just for looks. The lemon juice on it's own will add some yellow color, but just a touch. If you're opposed to food coloring, feel free to use a pinch of turmeric instead.
- Aquafaba. Traditional lemon mousse is made with eggs, so were using one of my favorite egg substitutes for baking in this recipe: aquafaba. Sounds fancy, but it's just the liquid from a can of chickpeas. If you don't have chickpeas on hand, cannellini beans, navy beans, or any other type of white bean will work.
- Cream of tartar. I mostly use this stuff in baking, in recipes like my vegan snickerdoodles, but in this particular recipe it works great as a stabilizer, helping to prevent the whipped aquafaba from falling.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Open up your can of coconut cream. Place the solid portion only into a large mixing bowl. You can discard the liquid, or save it for another use — coconut water is great in smoothies!
Step 2: Add powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract, and a pinch of salt, then use an electric mixer to beat the ingredients just until they're creamy.
Tip: Your coconut cream needs to have separated into liquid and solids for this recipe to work, so it needs to be cool. This may not be the case if your kitchen is warm. The day before making this, shake the can of coconut cream. If you hear sloshing, stick it in the fridge for a day or so.
Step 3: Fit your electric mixer with the whisk attachment, then use it to beat the aquafaba and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. If you don't have a whisk attachment, you can use the beaters — it'll just take longer.
Step 4: Carefully transfer the aquafaba mixture to the bowl with the coconut mixture, then fold it in with a spatula. Be careful! You don't want to disturb all those bubbles you created in your aquafaba.
Tip: Soft peaks means that your aquafaba mixture has reached a stage where peaks form in it when you lift the whisk from the bowl, but they are soft and will droop a bit. This should take four or five minutes to achieve if you're using the whisk attachment, and ten minutes or longer using the beaters.
Step 5: Transfer your lemon mousse to individual serving dishes. Again, be super careful not to disturb the little bubbles that you've created in the mixture. Cover and chill until the mousse has set.
Step 6: Your vegan lemon mousse should be ready after about two hours. You can enjoy it alone, or top it with some vegan whipped cream and fresh berries. I also love to garnish mine with fresh mint leaves!
Leftovers & Storage
Store your lemon mousse in the serving cups you originally placed it in to set, covering them tightly with plastic. The mousse will keep in the fridge for three to four days.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is. No gluten containing ingredients here!
Let it sit out at room temperature for up to an hour, until it softens up a bit. If your kitchen happens to be very cold, place it in a slightly warmer location.
Yes! In fact, this recipe sets better if it's made a day in advance. Just be sure to cover the serving containers tightly with plastic and chill them in the fridge until you're ready to serve them.
I'm afraid not. Freezing will totally mess up the texture.
More Vegan Lemon Desserts
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Mousse
Ingredients
- 1 (13.5 ounce/400 ml) can coconut cream, solid portion only (Important: see Note 1)
- ¾ cup organic powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- Pinch salt
- 3 drops yellow food coloring, optional (or use a pinch of turmeric)
- ¼ cup aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Optional Toppings
- Vegan whipped cream
- Fresh berries
Instructions
- Open the can of coconut cream and scoop out the solid portion into a large mixing bowl. Discard or reserve the remaining liquid for another use.
- Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract, salt, and yellow food coloring, if using. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the ingredients together until the mixture becomes creamy, about one minute.
- Place the aquafaba and cream of tartar into a separate large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the mixture until soft peaks form, about four minutes (Note 2).
- Transfer the aquafaba mixture to the bowl with the coconut cream mixture, and use a rubber spatula to gently fold the two mixtures together, until completely combined.
- Divide the mixture among small bowls or serving cups. Cover tightly with plastic and chill until fully set, at least two hours.
- Top with toppings of choice and serve.
Notes
- Your coconut cream needs to be cool enough for the solid and liquid portions to have separated. Shake the can the day before making this. If you hear sloshing, your coconut cream has not separated. Place it in the fridge overnight only if it has not separated. Chilling it after it has already separated can cause the solid portions to become too firm.
- You can use the beaters if you don't have a whisk attachment, but it will take about ten minutes for the mixture to reach soft peaks.
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