Everything you need to know about aquafaba: what it is and how to use it.

What is aquafaba?

It is the liquid in a chickpea can. Aquafaba’s most magical quality is its ability to whip to a stiff, fluffy foam exactly like egg whites.

Note: if you don’t consume canned chickpeas because you prepare them yourself, in this case, the aquafaba is the water in which you cook the chickpeas.

Warning : do not confuse the water the chickpeas are cooked in with the water they soak before being cooked. The soaking water is not consumable, you should throw it away.

How to whip aquafaba?

Like egg whites, aquafaba is most easily whipped with an electric hand or stand mixer, but this process can be done by hand with a wire whisk as well.

To whip aquafaba, start with a clean, grease-free bowl and whisk attachment and begin to process the aquafaba. Large, foamy bubbles will begin to appear. Soon the aquafaba will transform to loose foam. You’ll stop your mixer when the foam has reached a firm and robust state. When you turn your bowl upside down the foam should stick to the bowl.

How to incorporate whipped aquafaba to a mixture?

To mix the whipped foam with a mixture (for example melted chocolate), take about two tablespoons of foam and transfer it in the melted chocolate and then begin to mix the 2 ingredients.

Proceed with this mixing with caution, so you don’t flatten the foam. In order to do so, lift and place on top, the mixture that was underneath. This movement of placing the mixture from below on top is the only technique that you should use.

And you must do this with large, generous gestures, measured yet swift, going out from the middle to the edges, continually turning the bowl on the table. Keep doing this, until all the foam has been incorporated to the melted chocolate.

Click here to try my chocolate mousse recipe that uses aquafaba.