Bursting with sweet, fresh strawberries, a hint of lime, and silky smooth, fresh cream, this delightful light and airy mousse is a classic summer dessert. In truth, however, I make it all year round. To concentrate and deepen the flavour of the strawberries, they are first slowly roasted in the oven, with a little bit of sugar, before being pureed. Although, the better the strawberries, the better the mousse, this method of preparation ensures you will still have a fabulous dessert, even in the middle of winter!
Serves 4 - 5
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas 3 (fan 140°C)
Prepare and cook the strawberries: hull and halve the strawberries and tip onto a baking tray with the sugar. Mix well. Cook in the centre of a preheated oven for 45 minutes – if your oven cooks slightly unevenly, turn the tray half way through cooking.
After 45 minutes, remove from the oven, stir well and push the strawberries closer together in the centre of the baking tray. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and set on one side to cool a little.
Scrape into a food processor, with any juices and sticky bits from the baking tray. Puree until very smooth and then transfer to a saucepan.
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes, squeeze and then add to the pureed strawberries. Heat, stirring, over a moderate heat until the gelatine has melted.
Sit the saucepan in a bowl of ice and water until the mixture is cool and starting to thicken slightly. Add the lime juice.
When the strawberries are cool, whip the cream until it reaches soft peaks.
Beat the strawberry mix into the whipped cream but be careful not to over-mix.
In a different bowl and with clean whisks, beat the egg white with an electric whisk until it forms satiny peaks. Add the sugar gradually, spoonful at a time, whilst beating until stiff, shiny and smooth. The sugar should dissolve into the egg white and the egg white should be fluffy, shiny and standing up without any collapse.
Fold ⅓ of the egg white into the strawberry and cream mixture and then fold in the remaining egg white. Do not over-mix.
Transfer into 4 – 5 serving glasses/cups/bowls. You can either spoon the mousse in or transfer all the mouse to a piping bag with a wide end, and pipe it. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours to firm up and set into a light and fluffy mousse.
To serve: serve as is, or decorated with whipped cream and half a fresh strawberry.
Equipment:
Cook raspberries and blueberries with the 1 tablespoon caster sugar at 220°C/440°F/Gas 7 (fan 200°C) for 20 minutes. Sieve to remove the seeds before adding the gelatine.