Strawberry Vanilla Mousse

I am super excited to share this recipe as it is my first ever video recipe. Pardon me for the video quality, as I have started off as a layman with my phone and hopefully will own one of those high-end video recording equipment someday. Any suggestions for betterment are most welcome. 😊

This is one of my favorite desserts. It is easy to make, presentable, not overly sweet and the most amazing thing, it has the fresh fruity flavor from strawberries. It literally feels like soft clouds of strawberry in your mouth, complemented with the goodness of vanilla. Try this out and I bet it will fetch you a lot of praises. 😉

Here you go!

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 to 25 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4 medium sized glasses/cups

Ingredients Fresh Strawberries – 300 Grams (Set aside 4 strawberries for garnish)

Granulated sugar/Caster sugar – 1/3^rd Cup

Unflavored Gelatin – 1 packet (10 Grams)

Heavy whipping cream – 2 Cups

Powdered sugar/Confectioners’ sugar – 1/4^th Cup

Vanilla extract/essence – 1/4^th Tsp

Pink Gel food color – A dash (Optional)

Instructions

1. Clean and cut the strawberries into small pieces.
2. In a saucepan, add the strawberry bits along with the granulated sugar and cook on medium flame. Continuously stir and mash the strawberries until it reaches a jam like consistency.
3. Strain the mixture through a mesh strainer. Make sure to stir it well and scrape down all the juice that is sticking to bottom of the strainer.
4. Transfer the juice back to a clean saucepan along and add the gelatin.
5. Heat this mixture on low flame and stir continuously, until the gelatin dissolves. DO NOT BOIL. It should dissolve in less than a minute. Set aside the berry-gelatin mixture.
6. In a large mixing bowl, add the whipping cream and powdered sugar. Whisk it on high speed with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.
7. Add vanilla extract and beat until stiff peaks form.
8. This step is optional. If you like a fancier look, transfer 1/3^rd of the whipped cream to a decorating bag fitted with the tip of your choice. I used a star tip (#Wilton1M). Refrigerate it until ready to use.
9. Add the berry gelatin mixture to the remaining whipped cream and gently fold it in using a rubber spatula. You may add the pink gel food color at this point.
10. Using an ice-cream scoop or a measuring spoon, divide the mousse in equal servings to fill up the glasses. I used a measuring spoon. Alternatively, you may also transfer this to a piping bag to get a neater look. I prefer the more ruffled look to be seen through the glass, with blobs of mousse one upon another.
11. Now, pipe the vanilla on top and garnish with fresh strawberries.

Presentation is all about one’s prerogative. You can definitely try out different ways to make it look prettier.

Notes

1. You may add more sugar if you prefer. However, I would recommend not more than additional 2 tablespoons, as more sugar would take away the very uniqueness of this mousse, which is the mild tartness.
2. You may use frozen strawberries too. May be not as great as fresh ones, but they work fine too.
3. Make sure the whipping cream is at least 35% fat content. Its quick to thicken and holds the shape well.
4. Make sure the whipping cream is very cold. This will make the process faster. If the mixing bowl is cold, voila! It is super-fast. You can refrigerate the mixing bowl for five minutes and trust me, makes life much easier.
5. I highly recommend using a rubber spatula for the folding process. It is easier and will retain all the air that you’ve whipped in. I tried with both, whisk and a rubber spatula. Hands down, rubber spatula wins!

I hope you will try this recipe. Let me know how it goes for you. ☺️