Meera Sodha’s veghan recipe for lemon mousse with fennel seed shortbread | The new vegan

I didn’t know there was shortbread beyond Walker’s until I was in my mid-20s and working (briefly) at the Dock Kitchen, where, under the guidance of chef Richard Blackwell, I whipped up a batch. Each mouthful was unlike any other biscuit; it was rich, buttery, crumbly and melted enthusiastically in my mouth. I imagine it’s for this reason that shortbread is often paired with sharp and creamy posset, a smooth set cream and citrus dessert on which today’s mousse is based. The fennel seed, with its sweet, green flavour, acts as an excellent chaperone, helping to ease any tension between mousse and shortbread.

Lemon mousse with fennel seed shortbread

You’ll need a good blender to make the mousse, which will then need a couple of hours in the fridge to chill. Odourless coconut oil is easy to find in most major supermarkets, though it’s sometimes labelled “deodourised”.

Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hr 15 min
Chill 2 hr+
Serves 4

To make the mousse, gently melt the coconut oil in short bursts in a microwave, then pour it into a blender and add the tofu, agave syrup and lemon juice. Blend for one or two minutes – don’t compromise on the blending time, because the aim here is to aerate the mousse. Taste the mousse, adjust for syrup or lemon juice, if need be, then gently fold in two-thirds of the grated lemon zest, until well combined. Scoop the mousse mix into four glasses or small bowls and pop them in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.

Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan on a medium heat for a minute or two, until you can smell them, then crush them in a mortar: they’re quite hard to break down, so don’t worry if you end up with a few whole seeds.

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Pour the flour into a large bowl, add the vegan butter, then use your fingertips to rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Tip in the ground fennel seeds and the salt, and mix them through the dough. Add the sugar, then knead the dough into a ball. Lay this on a sheet of baking paper, lay a second sheet on top, then slowly and evenly roll out the dough until it’s about 1½cm thick. Pop the pastry, still covered in the two sheets of paper, in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour, to firm up.

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Transfer the dough to an oven tray and peel off the top layer of paper. Bake for 40 minutes, until the shortbread is pale gold in colour, then remove and sprinkle the top lightly with caster sugar. Leave to cool a little, then, while it’s still warm, cut the shortbread into roughly 8cm x 3cm fingers – you should end up with at least eight biscuits. Trim the ends to neaten (and eat as a cook’s perk).

Scatter the remaining grated lemon zest over the set mousses, then serve with the biscuits alongside for dipping.