Sometimes I feel like a comforting dessert, like a vanilla or chocolate mousse, but then end up playing with the recipe. Today I felt like vanilla mousse, and as I was flipping through the recipe cards I have filled out since I was in high school, I came across one from my German teacher. Her recipe was for Wine Jelly, and she noted on the back that it was a favorite of her mother's. It was made with German white wine and gelatin. So I thought, why not add white wine to my mousse?
As you can see above, the mousse came out amazingly fluffy and cloud-like. It had an air of sophistication from the subtle hint of wine. And the tart strawberries and kiwi provided a wake-up zing. I padded the bottom of the individual bowls with crisp savoyarde biscuits and I also marinated the strawberries in white wine.
The recipe makes enough for 4 generous servings and goes like this:
Wash the strawberries, slice them and sprinkle them with a bit of sugar. Pour 2 tablespoons (or more) of white wine over the berries and toss. Peel and slice 1 kiwi.
Next, beat the egg yolks until they are pale and fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat the egg mixture until it is fluffy and well blended, about 3 minutes. Add in the white wine (I used dry white wine, but sweet white wine would work well also). Beat again and then pour the egg mixture into a medium sized bowl.
Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks and remove to a separate bowl.
Beat the cold heavy cream until soft peaks form.
Then gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, and follow by folding in the beaten heavy cream. This is your mousse.
Lay broken savoyarde biscuits at the bottom of individual serving dishes.
Spoon strawberries over the biscuits and let the wine berry juice drain over the biscuits as well.
Ladle the mousse over the berries, and decorate the top of the mousse with berries and slices of kiwi. You can serve this mousse immediately, but if you refrigerate it for at least a couple of hours, it has a chance to marinate and become a luscious texture. It's even great the next day. Enjoy!!
Serves 4
Wine Mousse
Ingredients
- 12 strawberries
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 8 tablespoons dry white wine
- 1 kiwi, peeled
- 4 egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartare
- 1 cup cold heavy cream
- 12 savoyard biscuits (hard lady fingers)
Cooking Directions
- Wash the strawberries, core them, and slice them again into smaller pieces. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle the sugar and white wine over them and toss. Reserve.
- Slice the kiwi and reserve.
- Beat the 4 egg yolks until pale yellow and fluffy. Add in the cup sugar and beat about 3 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons white wine, beat to incorporate, and remove the egg yolk mixture to a medium size bowl.
- Beat the 4 egg whites with 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartare until they hold soft peaks. Reserve in another bowl.
- Beat 1 cup cold heavy cream until it holds soft peaks. Reserve.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until blended, taking care to preserve the air and volume of the mixture. Then gently fold in the whipped cream until blended.
- To assemble, break the savoyard biscuits to fit into the bottom of individual serving bowls. Spoon the strawberries and strawberry juice over the biscuits. Spoon wine mousse over the strawberries.
- To decorate: arrange some of the strawberries over the top along with a slice of kiwi and serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.
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