Dessert Anyone?

I just made raspberry mousse, which took very little work and yielded wonderful results. The best. Most mousse recipes call for gelatin and they want you to go split egg yolks from their whites and I’m not a big fan of that. This recipe is raspberries, cream and sugar. That’s all. It’s got lovely texture and lets the natural berry tartness come out (for added tartness, add a tablespoon of lemon juice).

The unfrozen mousse would be good as a cake filling, an ice cream topping, a decadent layer in any parfait, a substitute for crème fresh on any other fruity dessert. I’m even thinking about mixing the mousse raspberries with some whole raspberries and putting it all in a pre-baked graham cracker tart crust and having dessert for brunch.

If you want a vegan version of this pièce de résistance, you could probably mess with the proportions a little and use refrigerated silken tofu and some kind of rice, soy or coconut cream instead of the heavy cream.

To top it, I used canned whipped cream and chocolate shavings (refrigerate the chocolate for nice curly shavings). Some fresh lemon curlies and fresh raspberries would be fun too, or even a little mint (both in the mousse and on top).

If granulated sugar makes you tick, simple syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water heated on the stovetop until all the sugar is melted) would probably make a fine addition as opposed to the sugar, just make sure it’s room temperature. I would probably add it into the raspberries, instead of adding it to the cream. You can also take an egg white and whisk the sugar with the egg white until the sugar is dissolved. Uncooked eggs both gross me out and scare me, but to each his own.

If raspberry seeds are the problem, you can strain the raspberry puree through some cheesecloth or a small sifter/strainer so it’s completely smooth. To me those are just more steps between making and eating so I don’t worry about it too much.

Not a big raspberry fan? Pick a different berry. Puree up some blackberries, blueberries, strawberries or any soft fruit. Pear mousse anyone?

Or, if what you’re really looking for is sorbet, the mashed up raspberries with whatever extras you add can be poured into an ice cream maker.

I found retro Coca-Cola glasses in the pantry, so I used those as the container for all the raspberry goodness, but my initial plan was to use wide mouthed mason jars to give it a down home country feel. Those from better breeding would insist on parfait glasses. If all else fails, bowls are nice.

1lb. fresh raspberries
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

Put all of your raspberries in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the lemon juice if you want a little extra tangy-ness. Whip your cream until there are soft peaks. Add sugar into the whipped cream. Fold the raspberries into the cream. Whip it all together to make sure everything’s even. Pour into parfait cups/bowls/whatever and freeze. For best results it would probably be best to freeze it overnight and then transfer it to the fridge while you make dinner/eat dinner/recover from dinner.