Couscous Mousse Cake (Vegan)

It all stared with me buying a box of Couscous at the grocery store. I thought cooking with it would be just about the same as making pasta. No recipes. Just experiment. Bay was I about to find out otherwise!

I fist made a delicious pesto with green peppers and tomatoes. It was bursting with the flavors of garlic, herbs and olive oil. So far so good. Then I followed the instructions on the box and cooked the couscous as recommended. The texture came out right I guess. THEN I made the mistake of mixing the two! Gawd that was awful!! For some reason any kind of regular pasta sauce doesn't go well with couscous at all. Fortunately, I had prepared only a small amount of couscous. So I just stuffed my guinea pig aka husband with the mixture and dropped the matter.
(Had to dangle my special Vegan Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie so he'd finish up dinner fast heheh)

Since the experimenting hadn't worked out as planned I decided to consult my favorite vegan site for a couscous recipe. That's when I came across this delicious dessert! Who would've thunk that desserts could be made out of pasta? And such a mouth watering one at that!!

What more, it's decadence completely masks it's ease of preparation :)

Of course, with my inclination to experiment, I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my tastes.

Couscous Mousse Cake (Vegan)
(adapted from the original recipe Chocolate Cream Cous Cous Cake)

Couscous Layer
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup sucanat/brown sugar (1/2 cup if using sweetened cocoa like I do)
  
• 1/4 cup cocoa (preferably Dutch processed, my favorite is )
• 2/3 cup couscous
• 1 T vanilla

  Chocolate Mousse Layer

• 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
• 3 T sugar/maple syrup/date syrup
  
• 1 boxes firm silken tofu
• 2 T soy milk
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 T rum (more if you like:) )

In a medium saucepan combine water, cocoa, sugar and couscous. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally and cook until thickened (10 to 15 minutes). Remove from stove. Add vanilla and stir. Spread mixture into spring form pan (I just use a 6" square box) and press it down.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. If unavailable, add water to a saucepan and place a metal bowl over the steam to create a homemade version. (Melting chocolate directly over an electric stove or microwaving it will not work-the chocolate will crystalize).

Blend tofu, soymilk, sugar, rum and vanilla till the mixture is smooth. Take a scoop full out and keep aside. Add the melted chocolate to the mixture in the blender and blend again till it's all thoroughly blended. Pour evenly over couscous. Put the scooped out 'white mousse' over this and spread gently, then swirl lightly with a spoon (or your finger) in a circular motion to marble the chocolate and white mousses.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to give it time to set and chill. I usually make this a day in advance and hide it in some corner of the fridge. I love how this tastes after sitting in there for a whole day. Serve cold.