Aquafaba Guide

My dear fans & followers.
Thanks for joining & supporting me during my showcooking for Celeiro at Veggieworld Portugal.
As promised herafter my new recipe invention: Raspberry Aquafaba Mousse with white chocolate. 
I also prepared for you a little starter kit to get into the wonderful world of Aquafaba (chickpea-water). You will see it´s so fun and so yummy and 100 % plant-based. Enjoy !

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Para traduzir este site em portugues, por favor, verifique a direita a barra do google translate automático (abaixo na infobox sobre os meus próximos eventos).

So first what is aquafaba ?
Characteristics: plant-based „Eggwhite“ (Chickpeas, Cannellinibeans, Kidneybeans)
*an excellent vegan-friendly white egg replacement with 32 calories Aquafaba per can of  = 180 ml and 1% protein. Due to its properties as an emulsifier, raising agent and foaming agent, Aquafaba is used as an egg white substitute for egg whites for the production of:

Egg-free Meringues, Macarons, Marshmellows, Muffins, Pancakes, Biscuits, Nougat, Mousses, Fabainaise, Butter, Quiches, Icing, Ice cream, Fudge, Cocktails & much more.

So in future never put your chickpea water in the bin

Experts suggest substituting one egg white with 2-3 tablespoons (30 ml) of Aquafaba.
The base of mostly all recipes is the foam of Aquafaba – an unbaked Meringue.

There are 3 Types of Meringues:
the sweetened, beaten aquafaba whites that form the “islands” of floating island (also known in French as île flottante), the partly cooked toppings of lemon meringue pie and other meringue-topped desserts and the classic dry featherweight meringue.

Different preparation techniques produce these results:
– French meringue, or basic meringue, is the method best known to home cooks. White or raw cane iced sugar is beaten into egg whites.
– Italian meringue is made with boiling sugar syrup, instead of iced sugar. This creates a much more stable soft meringue which can be used in various pastries without collapsing. In an Italian meringue, a hot sugar syrup is whipped into softly whipped aquaafaba whites till stiff and until the meringue becomes cool. This type of meringue is safe to use without cooking. It will not deflate for a long while and can be either used for decoration on pie, or spread on a sheet or baked Alaska base and baked.
– Swiss meringue is whisked over a bain-marie to warm the aquafaba whites, and then whisked steadily until it cools. This forms a dense, glossy marshmallow-like meringue. It is usually then baked.

I use in our mousse the base of the french meringue.

There are three main ingredients in a french meringue recipe that interact to form the foam structure:

1) Aquafaba:
Buy already cooked biochickpeas ( conserved in a screw-top jar) & use the water.
Make Humus, Curries or Pies with the cooked chickpeas.


Make your own aquafaba (chickpea water):
– 250 g dry chickpeas + 800 ml water  soaked 6 h or overnight. Exchange water 2 x times.
– Add chickpeas with 800 ml water in a pressure cooker (with 2,5 x 2,5 cm Kombu) & let cook 20 Min.
– Let cool down and keep everything in the fridge overnight.
– Put the chickpeawater through a sieve into a small cooking pot and reduce on low heat to 265 ml.
– Let cool down and store in the fridge until 3 days.

2) Stabilizers:
Cream of tartar or any other acid stabilizers: vinegar lemon juice or baking powder + baking soda.
Suisse meringue or the Italian meringue are stabilized by the heat so no stabilizers needed.
Cream of tartar: add acid stabilizers to aquafaba white in the beginning of whipping them to increase the volume of the foam, helps to stabilize and coagulate the proteins, which aids in a stronger protein network to trap air for the foam formation. In consequence the peaks maintain better at higher temperatures. Cream of tartar prevents also sugar from recrystallizing during the baking process.
Lemon juice: the meringue will be stronger because the citric acid swells the aquafaba white and makes the mass more stable.
Xanthan Gum: Xanthan gum will thicken a liquid of any temperature, hot or cold. Add water and it becomes an elastic goo that works as a thickener, an emulsifier,a foaming agent, a moisture enhancer to increase in viscosity.
Stark for strenght: prevent the meringue from shrinking in the oven and can be cut better.

3) Sugar
Final ingredient that is used to help form and stabilize the foam structure is iced sugar.
Sugar is hydrophilic, extracting water out of the egg whites.This will lighten the protein network, allowing the foam to be stronger and more elastic. The sugar must be added slowly and spoonfuls to the aquafaba whites, while continuously mixing.

Heat
Adding heat to the mixture is the final step to strengthen the foam structure. The meringue must be baked at a low temperature for a long period of time. This allows the proteins to finish coagulating, strengthening the meringue evenly throughout.

Storage
Storing meringues in an airtight container will prevent humidity from affecting the sugar. It is also recommended to store the meringue in a cooler area. If the meringue is stored in these conditions, its shelf life will be about two weeks.

Aquafaba recipe for Beginners:

Raspberry mousse with white chocolate / Mousse au framboises au chocolat blanc

Ingredients:

120 ml Aquafaba of one jar cooked chickpeas
1/2 Tsp Xanthan =1,2 g
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 Tbsp lemonjuice = 7 ml
50 g iced raw cane sugar (works with Agave for sugarfree option)
20 ml homemade raspberry syrop
Option: 4 drops natural raspberry aroma
50 – 60 g vegan white Chocolate (sugarfree for sugarfree option), grated
10 dried raspberries, crushed
Topping: 40 g vegan white Chocolate, grated, 10 dried raspberries

Method:

-Whip the aquafaba to a foam takes around 10 Min.
-Drain chickpeas of one jar cooked chickpeas and reserve the liquid=aquafaba.
-Place 120 ml aquafaba in a clean and fat-free mixing bowl of a stand mixer together with Xanthan Gum and lemonjuice.
-Whip your aquafaba around 5 Min. until solid (similar to chantilly).
-Add vanilla and spoon by soon iced sugar.
-Whip until shiny and stiff peaks forming.
-Gently add the raspberry syrop and natural vanilla aroma.
-In the end carefully fold in the grated white chocolate and crushed dried raspberries.
-Serve with grated white chocolate and a dried raspberry on top.

You can prepare & store the mousse au chocolat the night before and serve it as a dessert for lunch.
Option: You can also create a crumble layer cake in a glass with your prefered cookies, crumbled.
Super lecker !

Homemade raspberry syrop:
– Proportion: Sugar : Fruits  = 1 : 2
= 500 g sugar / 1000 g fruits (blended) raspberries / 1000 ml water, let simmer 30 Min to thicken.
– Add acid: juice of 2 lemons.
– Pass through a sieve, fill in sterilized screw-top jars and store up to 6 month in fridge.

Hope you enjoy it !

Learn more in upcoming free guides.

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