Berry Mousse

This super quick dessert is great for when you feel like whipping up something sweet after your main course. Feel free to play around with different berries – either frozen or fresh. Or for more ideas see the variations section.

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Berry Mousse

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whipping cream (150mL)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 handfuls mixed berries (125g / 4.5oz)

Instructions

• Whip cream until you have soft peaks. Add in vanilla.
• Mash berries with a fork until you have a rough puree.
• Fold the berries through the cream, leaving it a little unmixed or ‘swirled’.
• Divide between 2 small glasses and serve immediately or refrigerate until you’re ready to eat.

Prepare Ahead?

Absolutely. Will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Leftover Potential

Great. Keep in the fridge for a few days, possibly longer.

Variations

pantry-friendly -coconut cream. frozen berries.

vegan / dairy-free / paleo – try berry sorbet instead, Whiz frozen berries in a food processor until you have a lovely ‘sorbet’ texture. About 300g (10oz) berries will serve 3-4. Or see the coconut idea below. You could also just use coconut yoghurt, coconut cream or cashew yoghurt instead of cream.

berry & coconut – chill 2 cans of coconut milk. Remove the lid and whip the solid coconut ‘cream’ leaving behind the watery liquid. Swirl in berry puree as above.

stone fruit mousse – remove the seeds from 4 ripe peaches or 8 apricots and puree the fruit in the food processor. Swirl through cream instead of the berries.

tangy mousse – whip only half the cream and stir in natural (Greek) yoghurt to make up the remaining half.

other flavour ideas– any ripe fruit will work if you mash or puree it first. Chocolate chunks are a nice addition as are chopped roasted nuts for a little crunch.

Shelf Life / Storage

I like these best on the day they’re made. Can be kept for a week or so in the fridge. Don’t freeze.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

cream – can be frozen.

vanilla – keep it in pantry.

berries – freeze really well.

Problem Solving Guide

not sweet enough – this is really relying on the ripeness of the berries to give enough sweetness. Serve with a little icing sugar (powdered sugar) for people to adjust the sweetness level if you’re worried about it.

watery – sounds like the cream wasn’t whipped enough OR the berries weren’t ripe enough. Change the name to ‘berry soup’. 🙂

grainy – be careful when whipping the cream not to take it too far to the ‘grainy’ stage.

short on time? – use an electric mixer to whip the cream or if you’re really desperate try whipped cream out of a can…or better yet, serve the berries with some commercial vanilla ice cream.

Serving Suggestions

Lovely as is in small, pretty glasses with teaspoons.

Some crunched meringues sprinkled over or stirred through will add interesting texture and ‘crunch’.

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