Cardamom and Rose Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Do you have an especially thoughtful way to show your love on special occasions? I formulated this Cardamom and Rose Chocolate Mousse recipe – a pink-hued variation on classic chocolate mousse, with herbs that open the heart and nurture connection – to serve just such a purpose.

You’ve likely heard of the five love languages: words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, gifts, and physical touch. What is your love language? I recently told my husband that soup is my love language. I feel so loved when he makes soup to nourish us for a couple of days. These are all beautiful ways to communicate love with the people you cherish, and I occasionally wonder where herb-infused desserts like this one fit on the list!

No matter what your most intuitive love languages are, it’s invaluable to have a dessert idea on hand for the days you wish to honor and celebrate the seasons, a loved one or love itself. We’re hardwired to connect over food, joy, and pleasure, and it’s beneficial for even the healthiest of eaters to share a decadent treat with loved ones now and then.

This chocolate mousse recipe has heart-opening rose and carminative cardamom benefits along with a satisfying and complex array of sweet and floral flavors. And when you make it yourself, you’ll know that you’re using the highest quality, organic ingredients.

Restorative Rose

Just a reminder that most store-bought roses are grown with harmful herbicides. Cultivated roses are one of our culture’s most popular gestures of love. And while they’re certainly beautiful to display, I enjoy deepening my connection to rose by eating wild or garden varieties grown without pesticides.

When eaten, roses nourish and tone the nervous-system pathways responsible for receiving sensory information and coordinating our responses. In this way, rose can deeply influence the way we perceive and interact with the world, imparting a restorative, calming effect that helps moderate reactivity to our environment. That shift, in turn, may help us access our most open, loving presence. Does the aroma of a rose ever just stop you in your tracks? That is what I am talking about! Eating them is like taking that glorious aroma and bathing your nervous system with it.

The petals of all Rosa species are edible and high in antioxidants. You can make this rose-infused chocolate mousse recipe with dried flowers that you buy or harvest yourself! Roses from florists are typically grown with pesticides so if you don’t have your own garden or local herb shop, I recommend Mountain Rose Herbs as a reliable source for high-quality organic dried rose petals.

Carminative Cardamom

Like rose, cardamom is a nervine (nervous system tonic), but its greatest benefit in this recipe is as a carminative for digestion. You’ve probably heard me talk about carminatives before, but just in case, carminatives increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the digestive tract, enhancing digestive function. This can help the body process heavy foods such as dairy. I love combining cardamom with clove and cinnamon, as you’ll see in this chocolate mousse recipe.

For the freshest cardamom with the most benefits, buy whole seeds still in the pod. When you’re ready to use them, discard the pod and powder the seed with a mortar and pestle or clean coffee grinder.

Print Recipe

Cardamom and Rose Chocolate Mousse Recipe

This recipe calls for white chocolate to highlight the subtle colors of the rose and cardamom. However, you can easily substitute milk chocolate, if you prefer.

Also, please take note that this recipe includes raw eggs — all the more reason to make sure you’re sourcing the highest-quality ingredients.Don’t use raw eggs from the store. If you are going to use raw eggs, only use them from your own chickens or locally sourced small chicken farmers. If you don’t have access to non-industrial produced eggs, you can make a more simple, non-egg version of this chocolate mousse.

Author: Kami McBride

Ingredients

• 8 oz organic white chocolate morsels
• 2 tsp rose petals, dried and powdered, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 tsp powdered cardamom
• Dash of cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 2 tbsp butter 
• 1 tsp brandy or herbal cordial, optional
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar
• 2/3 cup organic heavy whipping cream or coconut cream (use 3 cups for non-egg version)
• Whipped cream for garnish, optional
• Small container (8 oz) of raspberries for garnish, optional

Instructions

• Melt white chocolate in a double boiler over medium-low heat. 
• Add the rose, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt.
• Stir in the butter until it melts.
• Turn off the heat, then stir in the brandy or cordial.
• Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, then stir the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture. Set aside. 
• Whip the egg whites until they are foamy.
• Add sugar and continue whipping until the egg whites form stiff peaks. 
• Fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate. 
• Whip 2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream until medium peaks form.
• Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, making sure not to overmix.
• Spoon into a glass bowl, small glasses, or ramekins and put them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set.
• Garnish with whipped cream, raspberries, and a dusting of rose powder. 

Instructions for Non-egg Version

• Melt white chocolate in a double boiler over medium-low heat. 
• Add the rose, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt.
• Stir in the butter until it melts.
• Turn off the heat, then stir in the brandy or cordial.
• Add sugar to 3 cups of heavy whipping cream and whip until medium peaks form.
• Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, making sure not to overmix.
• Spoon into a glass bowl, small glasses, or ramekins and put them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set.
• Garnish with raspberries and a dusting of rose powder. 

Notes

This mousse can be made up to a day ahead or kept in the freezer for up to a month.

In Closing

We don’t have to reserve herbs for use as home remedies! Whether we’re nurturing a loved one through a cold or enjoying dessert on a special occasion, we can bring herbs into every part of our lives.

This is the greater lesson I hope to inspire with every recipe I share: herbs nurture our innate capacity to heal, and when we integrate them into everyday life we craft a healing lifestyle. With each person who makes this shift, we move closer to a culture that honors the earth and meets its wellness needs in balance with the larger ecosystem.

If you love the idea of living a healing lifestyle, my online course My Herbal Kitchen offers practical guidance and in-kitchen demonstrations for making deeply nourishing meals even when you’re short on time or cooking for picky eaters. (If your current focus is on herbal home remedies, you’ll want to check out my course Herbal Kitchen Remedy Solutions instead.)

I hope you find this rosy white chocolate mousse recipe a worthy, heart-opening indulgence that reconnects you to joy and pleasure shared with those you cherish. If you make it, let me know what you think in the comments below!

More Ways to Show Your Love

Love Potion Rose Petal Cordial Recipe
Felted Lavender Hearts
Ashwagandha Rose Evening Chai