Showing posts with label lemon yogurt mousse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lemon yogurt mousse. Show all posts

Friday, March 25, 2011

Lemon Yogurt Mousse

If you love lemon this is going to be one of your most favorite desserts. 


It is from http://www.americastestkitchen.com/ / Light & Healthy issue.


It took me three attempts to get this right, but it was worth every bowl, spoon and kitchen appliance I had to wash after. This post is going to be a bit lengthy but mostly photos of the ways I found worked best for me.


I hope you try it.







YOU WILL NEED:


Blueberry Sauce:


3/4 cup fresh blueberries
(note * recipe says you can substitute 1 cup of frozen blueberries)
(note again * most the little containers of berries I find are 6 ounces - so i just throw the entire package in - leave all other ingredients as is)
2 tablespoons sugar
(except here - maybe just a little extra sprinkling of sugar)
2 tablespoons water
pinch of salt




Mousse:


3 tablespoons water
3/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of salt
3 large egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar




For the Blueberry Sauce - Put blueberries, sugar, water and the pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat  - stirring occasionally. Cook about 5 minutes then transfer the entire mixture to a blender or food processor (recipe says use a blender but I hate my blender so I used my food processor - worked great) Pulse/Puree until smooth.



Then strain the mixture into a small bowl - pressing on the liquid to extract as much puree as possible.





Spoon the sauce evenly into 6 small ramekins - I found the best way to try and get the servings even was to use a tablespoon measuring spoon - then when i started running low i changed to a 1/2 size measuring spoon until all the puree was gone (I know this seems like a lot of little spoons running around - but my touch of OCD requires me to do some things this way)





Put the ramekins in the refrigerator for at least a half hour.


For the Mousse:


Pour the 3 tablespoons of water into a small bowl then sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the top. This is the one I used.


Set aside until ready to use.


In another bowl - whisk the heavy cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, salt and yogurt together.



I recommend the following yogurt. It is delicious and I don't know why I haven't had it before.



Now - This is where I made a giant mistake. I'm not sure why i grabbed a stainless steel bowl to whisk the egg whites but I did. And they NEVER came anywhere near fluffed. And then I thought the mixer would fix it and I was very, very wrong. Thirty minutes later I still had a bowl of oddly colored liquid - no mousse in sight and a smoking standing mixer. Needless to say, that batch went down the drain and I started over.

Use a GLASS bowl for this next step - unless you have another bowl that you know will work.
Make sure also that you have a bowl that will lay comfortably on top of a saucepan so you can whisk the egg whites.

Back to the task at hand - whisk the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a large bowl.


Set this bowl over a saucepan of simmering water - making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Heat this mixture - whisking constantly - until it has tripled in size and registers about 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer. I also skipped using the thermometer (just too lazy to get it) I whisk for 10 minutes until the egg whites are big and shiny and look like mousse - and by the way - what is in the bowl should already look like finished mousse product at this point (it's not done - but it should almost look like it is)


Off the heat whisk in the gelatin/water mixture then mix all of that with an electric mixer until you get stiff shiny peaks - almost another 10 minutes. (Another note here - I just used my little hand held mixer because I did not want to have another thing to wash and because I didn't want to waste any of the egg white mix in transferring to another bowl)
Now add the yogurt mixture and continue to mix just until combined - maybe a minute.

Finally - it's time to fill the ramekins. Again, I used a tablespoon measuring spoon to help me with the whole 'keeping quantities even' within each ramekin. Then switched to a smaller measuring spoon as i started running out (I know - again with all the little spoons)


Once all the dishes are filled and you are out of mousse mix - cover and chill overnight. (recipe says 6 - 8 hours - I figure a good nights sleep won't hurt anybody)


Serve garnished with a few fresh blueberries (just because it was pretty)


Eat them all.