David and I had
guests for dinner last night.
David was making the entrée and a guest was bringing salad, which left
me having to make only an easy hors d'oeuvre (marinated mushrooms). So, I decided to explore dessert
recipes for something out of my comfort zone, and came across a recipe for
lemon mousse from The Moosewood Cookbook,
that great vegetarian cookbook from the 1970s. The recipe mentioned the possibility of serving in
individual dessert dishes, which gave me the idea to use the lovely goblets I
inherited from my mother, who had gotten them from her mother, my Bubbe
Schine. I rarely use them, so all
the more reason to give it a try.
It worked out really well, and all the guests were enthusiastic.
Some notes on
the recipe:
·
The
original recipe said it served 6, so I made 1-1/2 times as much, which yielded
what you see in the photo above—8 goblets plus a large bowl of extra. Most people did have a second serving,
but that still left plenty. The
amounts below are from the original recipe, but I've changed the serving
designation to 8.
·
The
mousse was lovely, but it definitely needed the berries to top it off.
·
There's
nothing difficult in this recipe—it just takes time for the different components
to come together: making the
custard, beating the egg whites, beating the cream, and prepping the berries. Enjoy!
Lemon
Mousse with Berries
8 servings
Lightly adapted from Mollie Katzen, The Moosewood Cookbook
Preparation takes about 2-1/2 hours
(including the 45 minutes of chilling time), and then the mousse needs to chill
for several hours, so you'll need to make it in the morning, to serve in the
evening.
3 large eggs
3 T. cornstarch
grated rind from 2 lemons
juice from 6 lemons
10 T. honey (1/2 cup plus 2 T.)
dash of salt
dash of cream of tartar
1 pint (16 oz) heavy cream, cold
1/4 t. lemon extract
1 T. honey
fresh berries (I used blueberries and
strawberries.)
1.
Separate
the eggs. Set aside the whites,
letting them come to room temperature.
Lightly beat the yolks.
2.
Lemon
custard: In a small saucepan, whisk together the
cornstarch, lemon juice, 8 T. honey, and the lemon rind. When the mixture is smooth, cook it
over low heat, whisking, until it starts to thicken (about 6-8 minutes). Remove from the heat. Beating furiously, whisk the hot lemon
mixture into the egg yolks, beating until smooth. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until the mixture has
cooled down and begun to solidify.
At the same time, put in the fridge the bowl you'll be using to beat the
cream—it helps for the bowl to be chilled.
3.
EGG WHITES: After the lemon mixture has cooled, start
beating the egg whites. Add a dash
each of salt and cream of tartar.
Whip until you get stiff peaks, and then fold the whites gently but
thoroughly into the chilled lemon mixture. Refrigerate while doing the next step.
4.
CREAM: Whip the heavy cream in the chilled bowl, adding the lemon extract
and drizzling in 1 T. honey. When
the cream has been whipped to soft peaks, fold it into the rest of the
mousse. Put the mousse into the
serving dish(es)—either one large bowl or individual dessert dishes. Chill for at least two hours before serving. During this time, prepare the berries.
5.
BERRIES: Prepare the berries, as needed. I cut strawberries into quarters or eighths and mixed with a
little sugar, enough to get a bit of syrup as the berries sat. For the blueberries, I sprinkled on
sugar, and then cooked them in a saucepan, just until the sugar melted. I then put the berries in the fridge,
taking them out an hour or so before serving to bring them to room temperature.
6.
Serve
the mousse with the berries, to spoon on top.
