Traditional Raspberry Mousse

Traditional Raspberry Mousse

Originally posted January 3, 2013. Updated 1/21/21

Mousse can be made in two main ways - “Easy” and “Traditional”. This is how to make Traditional Raspberry Mousse. A bit of work, but worth it!

The holiday season may be over, but some of us aren't ready to forfeit our sweet tooth to the new years resolutions just yet!

This mousse is light, airy, fruity... and feels a little celebratory. Great for entertaining, special occasions (Valentine's Day!)... or any day, really.

Also, this recipe isn't horrible as far as desserts go. It's not a TON of sugar, it's gluten free... it has fruit, dairy, and hey, the eggs count as protein, right?

Good enough!

Traditional Raspberry Mousse vs Easy Raspberry Mousse

When it comes to dessert mousse, there are two main styles - “Easy” and “Traditional”.

What is Easy Mousse?

“Easy” style mousse is basically flavoured whipped cream that’s been stabilized with gelatin.

You can start from scratch - beating heavy whipping cream until it’s ... whipped cream - or you can start with a product like Cool Whip.

Either way, you add your flavouring - liqueur, fruit, chocolate, extract, whatever - and some gelatin that you’ve bloomed and melted.

Whisk it all together, put it in cups, chill it a couple hours, and you have easy mousse.

What is Traditional Mousse?

Traditional mousse is made with raw egg yolks and/or egg whites.

It generally comes together in 3 parts:

- Flavour base (Fruit, etc), usually mixed with sugar and the bloomed and melted gelatin

- Whipped cream. When I’m doing a chocolate mousse, the chocolate is usually in with the whipped cream.

- The egg whites.

Note: While traditional mousse is perfectly safe for the vast majority of the population, pregnant women, the elderly, and immune compromised individuals may want to opt for the easy version, which does not contain any raw eggs.

Which Mousse is Better?

If you don’t have any health considerations that rule out the use of the egg whites - and are willing to invest the extra 5 minutes?

Honestly, the traditional mousse is 100% worth the effort.

Easy mousse is like flavoured whipped cream. It’s a tasty flavoured whipped cream, but the texture isn’t the same as the real thing.

The whipped egg whites produce tiny bubbles, and give the whole thing a fine ... foam... texture. It’s lighter and fluffier than easy mousse, and way more fun to eat IMHO.

Variations

Spirited!

Feel free to substitute a non-cream liqueur of choice for all or part of the water.

This mousse is particularly great with Chambord or Cointreau in place of the water

Other Fruit Flavours

You can use ALMOST any fruit in this recipe. ALMOST.

If you use raw fruits high in enzymes - kiwi, fresh pineapple, papaya, etc - they will break down the gelatin and not set.

You can cook these fruits to deactivate those enzymes (or used canned!), but I tend to just avoid them altogether for this recipe.

Any other fruit... peel / seed if necessary, and puree. Measure out 1 cup, and go from there.

This recipe comes from my first cookbook, The Spirited Baker. It’s FULL of fun, tasty recipes using spirits and liqueurs for flavour – you should check it out:

Combining liqueurs with more traditional baking ingredients can yield spectacular results.Try Mango Mojito Upside Down Cake, Candy Apple Flan, Jalapeno Beer Peanut Brittle, Lynchburg Lemonade Cupcakes, Pina Colada Rum Cake, Strawberry Daiquiri Chiffon Pie, and so much more.

To further add to your creative possibilities, the first chapter teaches how to infuse spirits to make both basic and cream liqueurs, as well as home made flavor extracts! This book contains over 160 easy to make recipes, with variation suggestions to help create hundreds more! Order your hard copy here on my website, through Amazon, or through any major bookseller.

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5 from 1 vote

Traditional Raspberry Mousse

Mousse can be made in two main ways - “Easy” and “Traditional”. This is my recipe for Traditional Raspberry Mousse. A bit of work, but so elegant!

Prep Time20 mins

Chilling Time2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 20 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French, Gluten-free

Servings: 6 People

Calories: 202kcal

Author: Marie Porter

Ingredients

• 1 cup Raspberry puree *
• ⅓ cup Sugar
• 3 tsp Unflavored gelatin powder
• ⅓ cup water **
• 2 Large egg whites
• 1 cup Heavy cream

Instructions

• Combine raspberry puree and sugar together in a large bowl, set aside.
• In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water and allow to soak for 5 minutes. Transfer bowl to microwave, heat in 10 second increments until gelatin dissolves into the liqueur.
• Pour gelatin into fruit puree mixture, stir until well incorporated, then set aside while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
• In a separate bowl (stand mixer, ideally!), whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold into chilled fruit mixture, stirring until combined.
• Whip cream until stiff peaks form, then carefully fold in to the fruit mixture, stirring until combined.
• Pour into 6 serving glasses, chill until set, about 2 hours.

Notes

* If you have access to pre made fruit puree, that is easiest.

** Feel free to substitute a non-cream liqueur of choice for all or part of the water. This mousse is particularly great with Cambord or Cointreau in place of the water.

Nutrition

Calories: 202kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 76mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 583IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

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