Keto Mascarpone Mousse is the upgraded version of my most popular recipe – Keto Chocolate Mousse.
Since it was first published back in 2013, it’s been getting more visits, likes and shares than any of my other recipes.
Why is it so popular? Perhaps because it’s simple, quick and massively high in fat. And chocolate-flavoured.
So can we make it even better? Simpler, faster, more chocolatey? We can certainly try.
Here’s my second attempt to create the perfect chocolate-flavoured keto mousse.
Simple? Check – only 4 ingredients.
Quick? Check – you can whip it up it in 2-3 minutes.
Low in carbs? Check – 2g of net carbs per serving.
High in fat? Oh yes – 27g of fat per serving.
Quick note for culinary purists – I realise that technically this recipe is not a mousse, as there is no whipping involved. The texture is more creamy and dense. But it still feels and tastes like a mousse, so I am going to call it that anyway.
What’s the secret?
The secret is mascarpone.
Mascarpone is a type of cream cheese. It’s the key ingredient in popular desserts like cheesecake and tiramisu. Its rich smooth taste works wonderfully with chocolate flavours.
Mascarpone’s texture is similar to standard cream cheeses like Philadelphia. But it is higher in fat (around 45g per 100g / 3.5oz) and lower in carbs (around 1-3g net carbs per 100g / 3.5oz, depending on the brand).
In the UK, most supermarkets stock mascarpone. I used Tesco own-brand mascarpone.
In the USA, BelGioioso mascarpone is available from large supermarkets.
If you can’t find mascarpone, you can use a standard cream cheese like Philadelphia instead. But you will then need to recalculate nutritional data for the recipe. It will probably be a bit lower in fat and higher in carbs.
Use sugar-free cocoa powder
I use Green & Black sugar-free cocoa powder in my recipes – I think it’s the best option if you are in the UK.
In the USA, good brands for high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder are Valrhona and Ghirardelli.
If you use a different brand, just make sure it doesn’t have any added sugar.
Buy sugar-free cocoa powder on Amazon
Balancing the flavours in the recipe
The recipe is basically mostly mascarpone cheese. We add cocoa powder for chocolate flavour, a sugar substitute for sweetness, plus a bit of vanilla extract to enhance the taste.
To make the mousse, you just simply mix it all together. So ingredients can be tweaked any way you like. Unlike baked or whipped mousses, quantities don’t have to be exact. So taste the mixture, and adjust ingredients if required.
If it’s too bitter, add more sweetener. I think granulated sweetener like Truvia would work better than liquid drops. If it’s too sweet, add a bit more cocoa powder and vanilla.
I sometimes add a whole tablespoon of sugar-free vanilla extract, resulting in a nice hint of alcohol as well as vanilla. A very grown-up taste!
Keto mascarpone mousse
Total time:3 min | Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 240g (8.5oz) mascarpone cheese
- 2 tbsp (16g) sugar-free cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp granulated sweetener with Stevia and erythritol , or another sweetener to taste
- 1 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
- optional: 1-2 tbsp heavy cream – if the mixture is too heavy
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together thoroughly with a spoon or a mixer
- If the mixture is too heavy, add 1-2 spoons of cream
- Check the taste, adjust the amounts of cocoa and sweetener if required
- Spoon out to serving glasses or bowls
Nutritional information
Serving size: 1 serving (1/4 of the whole recipe)
Per serving: 286 calories, 2g net carbs, 27g fat, 4g protein
For the whole mixture: 1145 calories, 8g net carbs, 109g fat, 16g protein
Keto mousse – Similar recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, try my other recipes based on this Keto mousse:
Great recipe. I added orange flower water to the recipe. It added a little more depth.
Mascarpone is great for simple mousse-like mixes. I like to take half a small tub of mascarpone, mix in a small dollop of crunchy peanut butter (or even better: almond butter) and a large squirt of bottled lemon juice (the liquid lightens the mix to a whipped-cream texture). I don’t bother with artificial sweeteners, my tastebuds no longer need it. If I’m in a really luxurious mood I’ll fold in a handful of blackberries. Gorgeous!
Hi,
Thank you for this great recipe. I made more using 500 gr of mascarpone as was my packaging size, simply by multiplying values given. I used liquid stevia to sweeten to taste and sprinkled with ground almonds (you can use chopped nuts as well, salty macadamia also works) . Amazing!! I froze the rest of the mixture in a muffin silicone tray, so I can get one out whenever, instead of ice cream.
👍
Mascarpone alone should be like 10 grams carbs (4g per 100g).
Plus the cocoa there’s no way it’s 8 grams total (2g x 4 portions)
His numbers are correct.
I rarely leave comments and I have always had to add or omit ingredients to fit my tastes. But I just HAVE to say thank you for this recipe – this is amazingly perfect as is! Wow – this is the first dessert keto recipe I’ve loved. Not too sweet, super easy to make with just a spoon and bowl, super easy to cut down amounts and make as a single serving, and a single serving is a good amount and more than just a taste! And if I crave more sweet just add a tad or more chocolate just add a tad or nuts just add… you get it. Totally helps my fat intake without overdoing my carb or protein. And delicious. Yay!!! Twenty thumbs up:) PS I sweeten with Swerve and add the heavy cream to mine. Wonderful.
This is beyond good!! Thanks for this easy recipe. I used almond extract instead of vanilla. It came out delicious.
Thank you, Carloo! Great idea about the almond extract – I must try it!
Thank you so much! This recipe is keeping me on Keto. I make a double batch, put into single-serving containers, and freeze some of it. It always helps to know I have a treat waiting for me—a delicious, creamy, chocolate treat.
Ooh! Freezing sounds like a great idea – I must try it. Thank you!
Absolutely brilliant stuff, definitely hit the spot! Thank you
I tried this last night and it was absolutely divine! It added the perfect amount of fat to my tracking without adding too many carbs. Thank you!
Thank you Sue 🙂 I am glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Thank you so much! This was wonderful & I use a couple of NOW brand, Better Stevia GLYCERITE drops it is the closest to sugar in my opinion.
Fantastic – thanks for the tip!
Wonder if sugar free hot chocolate mix would work for coco in this???? Hmmmm
Hi Tracey, I think sugar-free hot chocolate is basically just cocoa anyway 🙂 I would double check the ingredients on the label, but I think it will work.
When you put up recipes could you also include Total Carb count. I know everywhere on the internet it says to use Net Carbs but some of us are more sensitive to sugars and carbs. I am Pre-diabetic and extremely sensitive to sugars and carbs. I have to use the Total amount when calculating. Thanks!
Hi Mel, good point, I will include totals going forward. For this recipe, total carbs are about 3g per portion. The one extra gram comes from fibre in cocoa powder. Hope this helps! Best of luck with your diet.
I count total carbs as a diabetic all carbs do eventually effect you.
Hi. I did actually melt some pieces of 90%lindt chocolate with some whipped cream in the microwave and did use that instead of cacao powder… and did use some stevia to make it little sweeter.. this also did turn out tasty…
Wow – that sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing this tip 🙂
Hi,
Thank you for this great recipe. I made more using 500 gr of mascarpone as was my packaging size, simply by multiplying values given. I used liquid stevia to sweeten to taste and sprinkled with ground almonds (you can use chopped nuts as well, salty macadamia also works) . Amazing!! I froze the rest of the mixture in a muffin silicone tray, so I can get one out whenever, instead of ice cream.
👍
I made this using sugar-free chocolate syrup in place of the cocoa powder and sweetener, it also made a beautiful swirl effect.
I added about 3 tablespoons of heavy cream and oh my God was this amazing and rich! It felt like pure sin! My boyfriend can’t believe that this is how I am losing weight!
I ate the WHILE thing, but mainly because I had nothing tyo eat all day and had to hit my macros. Best.Dinner.Ever!
Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! The part about dinner made me laugh – I definitely agree 🙂 🙂 🙂
Can you give me exactly what you did? I use Walden’s sugar free syrups and would like to try this. TIA
Margie just do it to taste, you only need the recipe as a guide. I added more whipped cream, more sweetener, and about 2x the cocoa. Turned out fine.
This little dessert saved the day! I love it, and am excited to play with the variations I’m reading in your comment section.
Thanks
Thank you for your feedback 🙂 I am so glad you enjoyed it! Best of luck with your diet.
Love this recipe! I added fresh coffee to taste for a Mocha flavor. Yummy!
Mmm, yes, mocha flavour sounds good 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Pre-blending/powdering the sugar (of whatever kind) definitely makes it look better. (I made it twice and the visual difference is something!) Tastes great regardless 🙂
Thank you Tammi 🙂 I am so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Thank you so much for this recepies, you have saved me from falling off the keto wagon with this mousse. Perfect for feeling like you just need to eat something really naughty (that’s honestly how I felt as I was eating it) gooey, choclatey and surprisingly light. You’ve saved my diet tonight, thanks
Thank you Matt 🙂 I am so glad it turned out well for you. Best of luck with your diet!
Following this recipe and using Truvia it is 5.6g of carbs for one serving
Hi MJ, here is my calculation:
240g (8.5oz) mascarpone cheese: 5g net carbs
2 tbsp (16g) sugar-free cocoa powder: 3g net carbs
1 tbsp Truvia: 0 digestible carbs
1 tsp sugar-free vanilla extract: 0g net carbs
Total 8g net carbs, 2g net carbs per serving.
Some brands of mascarpone and cocoa may be a bit higher or lower in carbs, but not by much.
Which brands are you using?
Please read ingedients on your sweeteners truvia is mostly dextrose. However due to labeling laws can list carbs as they do. It throws me right out of keto every time. I have to order products that are dextrose free online.
Hi Tam,
Truvia Zero-Calorie sweetener is a mixture of erythritol and Stevia extract. It is genuinely zero-carb and zero-calorie.
Truvia so also make various sugar blends for baking – and you are right, those do contain actual sugar.
So yes indeed, we must always be careful and check the labels for exact ingredients.
Oh my goodness, this was amazing! I didn’t use sweeteners as I don’t like them and I could eat mascarpone straight out of the tub anyway. I did add a teeny tspn of roasted chopped hazelnuts on top and it really hit the spot. Don’t want to go buy a slab of Green and Blacks now. Thanks!
Thanks Catherine 🙂 I am so glad you enjoyed it.
I don’t know what I’ve done wrong but my mousse taste absolutely disgusting:) I’m thinking that it can be because I used Stevia sweetener:(
Oh dear, I am so sorry to hear that. I am baffled as to how it could turn disgusting – the ingredients are so simple. Which type of Stevia did you use? Was it drops?
I make a ricotta mousse but this looks delicious. I am going to try it. For my ricotta mousse I use a drop or two of monk fruit extract. Not kidding. That stuff is VERY sweet. And glycine. I just do not understand why no one uses glycine. It is so much like granulated sugar and it is NOT a sugar alcohol and NOT an excitotoxin. I could not live without it. I am finding that blending monk fruit and glycine together in recipes creates a very satisfying sweetness with no aftertaste.
.
Thanks for sharing this – interesting. I guess we all just find something that works for us, and then stick with it. My go-to sweetener is a mix of Stevia/erythritol.
But I will definitely try your suggestion of monk fruit and glycine. Have you tried baking with it?
Really nice and so fast to make. I’m new to low carb, and it still surprises me how little of something like this you need in order to satisfy a craving! I used erythritol and had to double the amount to get the right sweetness. I also blitzed the erythritol in the nutribullet so it was like icing sugar. I would probably add a bit more vanilla next time too. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Great tip about powdering the sweetener – I imagine this really improves the texture, making it smoother.
This was very smooth and creamy. I had to add more cream than the recipe called for. I used powdered Swerve for a smooth consistency. I’m not a big chocolate fan, but my hubby is. Fast dessert! I’m not sure about the post saying this is 11 grams of carbohydrates. I don’t know where he got that, unless he was using chocolate syrup.
Hi Barb, thanks for sharing your feedback, I am glad it turned out well 🙂 Not sure what you mean about 11g of carbs? The recipe is 2g net carbs per serving. Did someone share it on social media with the wrong carbs count?
If you could let me know where you came across 11g carb count, that would be great – so that I can then ask them to correct.
Wonderful
I mix and match items out of the following groupings
Base: Cream cheese / sour cream / butter
Thinners: cashew milk / herbal tea / coffee
Thickeners: gelatin
Dessert flavors: cocoa/orange, cocoa/coffee/vanilla, vanilla/peanut butter, cocoa/cinnamon, berries, peach, meyer lemon
Dessert sweeteners: usually sucralose, but with coffee sometimes saccharin
Dip flavors (for vegetables and pork rinds): salsa, onions, garlic, tomatoes, red peppers, pickled things etcetera
That’s a great list, Cynthia! Thank you for sharing.
I make this, then add in blender, frozen strawberries, or raspberries and mix.. like the best but filling ice cream! Need to add a bit more heavy whipping cream if you want it smoother.
Oooh! Berries! Yess – I like your thinking! Thanks for sharing the tip.
This mousse is amazing! Very chocolatey and very easy to make (takes a bit of mixing). I haven’t tried the original chocolate mousse as I tried this first because it looked easier to make and it’s just superb! Great with a chopped up strawberry.
Thanks for your feedback, I am so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Great idea about strawberries – I must try that!
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This recipe is fabulous. I make a similar dessert with mascarpone, coconut milk, heavy cream, brandy , organic coco powder and espresso coffee. Tastes like tiramisu.
Ooh! Brandy and espresso – I like your thinking 🙂 Thank you for sharing this tip – I will definitely try it out!
Hi please share the recipe. Sounds divine!
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