My Madison Bistro

Can you remember the last time you had a dessert so good, you wanted to lick the dish? I can, because it happened tonight. I had a fridge full of Meyer lemons, and I knew I needed to do something with them quickly. I’d been thinking about making lemon mousse for awhile now, but I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do with it. And then raspberries popped into my head. If I could just find some nice raspberries, that’s all this dish would need.

As luck would have it, I was able to get both golden raspberries and red raspberries. Could this be fate?

You could make this dish using bottled lemon curd, but since we’re in the height of citrus season, I think you’ll really enjoy making the lemon curd yourself. Plus, this recipe will likely yield some leftovers of the lemon curd – how delicious does that sound?

Lemon Mousse
adapted from The Secrets of Baking

Ingredients
1 T lemon zest
1 T Meyer lemon zest
2/3 c vanilla sugar
2/3 c Meyer lemon juice
Juice of 1 lime
3 whole eggs (large), at room temp
4 egg yolks (large), at room temp
4 T cold butter, diced

1 c whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla sugar
Fresh raspberries

Instructions
1. Fill a medium saucepan 3/4 of the way full with cold water and heat over medium heat. Make an ice bath (ice and cold water) with a medium-sized bowl, set aside.

2. Zest the lemons and combine the zest and vanilla sugar in the food processor and blitz for about a minute. Combine the lime and Meyer lemon juice, set aside.

3. In a heatproof glass bowl, combine the lemon sugar, eggs, and egg yolks, and whisk for about 30 seconds. Place bowl over simmering water for another 15 seconds, or until sugar melts. Pour in lemon juice. Whisk until curd is the consistency of sour cream and reaches 160 F (this takes me about nine minutes). Remove from heat and start whisking in the butter, one piece at a time, until incorporated. (If you wish, you can pour the curd through a sieve to remove any zest or lumps. If you’d like some texture in the mousse, skip the sieve.) Place bowl in ice bath and place sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd.

4. When curd is cooled (you can make the curd ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to make the mousse), mix the whipping cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla sugar, and whip until combined. Reserve two large spoonfuls of whipped cream.

5. Start by adding half of the curd and the remaining whipped cream in a bowl, and fold to combine. You’ll want to test the flavor of the mousse and add curd if you want more of a lemon punch to the dish.

6. Drop a couple of raspberries in a martini glass, and top with lemon mousse. Garnish with additional raspberries and a dollop of whipped cream.

I really, really hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do. It’s the perfect end to a nice meal, any time of the year. You can substitute whatever berries look best or are in season, but I think raspberries are the best match for lemon.

Tags: lemon, raspberries

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