Make Coffee Mousse Using Only These 3 Ingredients You Already Have

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Despite the fancy-sounding name, coffee mousses are a lot easier to make than you'd think. How easy, exactly? Well, for one, you only need exactly three ingredients — all of which you probably already have in your kitchen right now — plus five minutes of your time, and you'll have a dessert that won't look out of place in a high-end restaurant.

First thing first, you'll need instant coffee for the rich, roasted flavor. Folgers Classic Roast Instant Coffee is a good choice for this, but if you prefer your treat on the bolder side, you can use instant espresso like the one from 365 by Whole Foods. If it comes in scoopable powder form, you'll need about 15 grams (or 0.5 ounces) for a serving. In case it comes in sticks, you can use an entire stick. The second ingredient is sugar, either white or brown is fine, but we highly recommend the latter, as the molasses in brown sugar will complement the coffee wonderfully. Just blitz these ingredients together with ice in a blender until they become silky-smooth — and your mousse's basically finished!

To really make it one-of-a-kind, however, you'll need a third (and last) ingredient: cocoa powder. Any brand's fine, you can choose "found-at-every-grocery-store" Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder or, if you're going organic, Viva Naturals Organic Cacao Powder. Sprinkle a little bit of this on top, and the flavor of the chocolate's going to meld together with the sweetened coffee for one heck of a flavor-fest.

While this 3-ingredient coffee mousse is going to be an awesome "emergency dessert" (whenever you're short on time, low on ingredients, or just don't feel like putting in too much effort), you can make the treat much better with a couple extra ingredients. For instance, imagine what a touch of vanilla extract can do to both the flavor and aroma of your coffee mousse. Spoiler alert: it's a divine combination of two of the most indulgent ingredients known to bakers everywhere. Outside of vanilla extract, feel free to flavor the mousse to your liking. A bit of cinnamon for warmth or caramel syrup if you want to sweeten the treat even further — there's plenty of room to experiment here, so feel free to play around.

If the mousse doesn't taste very rich for you, then it's because it lacks the eggs, cream, or gelatin usually found in traditional mousses. If you're avoiding eggs or dairy, then an awesome alternative you can fall back on is plant milk. Pick any that's richly textured, such as coconut or almond milk, then add it right into the mousse as you blend. Just a touch is going to make a huge difference in mouthfeel.

Garnishing options are, well, anything you can think of, really. Don't stop at cocoa powder — you can add a dollop of whipped cream, chocolate shavings, or, if you like your mousse extra-strong, even sprinkle instant coffee granules directly on top. The latter will all but guarantee a wallop of coffee flavor when you dig in, excellent if you like your treat to be so bold, it can replace your after-meal cuppa!