Tag Archives: mousse

Lemon (or lime) mousse

21 Feb

lemon-mousse

This is a nice, light dessert that’s good any time of year. The only thing hard about this recipe is finding kosher unflavored gelatin, if that’s important to you. The recipe was originally for “lime mousse” and it’s really delicious with lime too — but I almost always have lemon zest on hand, and rarely lime zest.  The recipe is also easy to halve if you want to make less.

Ingredients:

6 eggs, separated
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup lemon (or lime) juice
1½ Tbs. butter or margarine
1 Tbs. grated lemon(or lime) zest
1½ tsp. unflavored gelatin
½ tsp. vanilla

Directions:

If you use fresh lemons or limes grade the rind for zest before you squeeze for juice.

Combine the egg yolks, sugar, half a cup of the juice, butter and 1½ tsp. of the zest in the top of a double boiler. Cook over simmering water, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick. Remove from the heat.

Soften the gelatin the remaining lemon or lime juice and dissolve over a pan of hot water. Stir in the egg yolk mixture. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. Stir the vanilla into the yolk mixture, then fold in the egg whites. Pour into serving dishes and sprinkle with the remaining zest. Chill several hours before serving.

Serves 8

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Chocolate Mousse

14 Jan

ImageI got this very easy recipe from Judith Baskin, who is the distinguished director of the Jewish studies program at the University of Oregon. We met  at Antioch College, and we were roommates during our year abroad at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. We lived in a damp, cold, moldy basement apartment in an otherwise toney neighborhood (we referred to our apartment as “the slum of Rehavia”). After college, my husband and I lived in Philadelphia and we visited Judy and her husband, Warren Ginsberg, a few times in New Haven while they were  graduate students at Yale. On one visit, they served us this wonderful dessert, which we have been making ever since.

Ingredients:

1 6-oz. package semisweet chocolate chips
⅓ cup boiling water
4 eggs, separated
2 Tbs. coffee liqueur (or another liqueur that goes well with chocolate)
½ tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

In a blender, or with an immersion blender, mix the chocolate chips and boiling water for about 10 seconds. Add the egg yolks, liqueur and cinnamon and blend another 5 seconds. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites until no streaks or lumps of white are visible. Spoon into dessert dishes or a 1-quart serving bowl. Chill for one hour or more. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Serves 4 to 6

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