This Lemon Mousse recipe is a super light and fresh dessert to enjoy on a warm day. Topped with a tangy lemon curd, these lemon mousse cups are perfect for a dinner party or when you are simply after a creamy, refreshing dessert!
Place the Gelatine Powder in a small bowl and mix in some cold water (see ingredients notes below). Set aside.
1 teaspoon Gelatine Powder
Place the zest of 1 Lemon in a heat-proof bowl and mix with the Egg Yolks and Caster Sugar.
1 Lemon Zest, 3 Egg Yolks, 120 gr (1/2 cup Caster Sugar
Place the Lemon Juice in a medium size pot. Bring to a simmer, then pour over the egg/sugar mixture. Whisk well to combine, then pour it all back into the pot.
180 ml (3/4 cup) Lemon Juice
Turn on medium low heat and keep stirring until the the liquid starts to thicken slightly (see note 1). Remove from the heat, add the gelatine and whisk well until dissolved. Transfer into a large clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream and place in the fridge to chill for about an hour.
Place the Heavy / Thicken Cream in the bowl of your mixer (or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer) and whisk until you get stiff peaks.
240 ml (1 cup) Heavy / Thickened Cream
Take the Lemon Cream out of the fridge (slightly whisk it to loosen it if required) then gently fold in the whipped cream into the lemon mixture in 3 or 4 times, trying not to deflate the whipped cream (see note 2).
Pour the lemon mousse into the serving cups and place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours (see note 3).
Lemon Curd
In a small Pot, whisk together the Lemon Juice & Zest, Egg Yolks and Sugar. Turn on low heat and whisk for about 5 minutes, or until the liquid starts to slightly thicken.
2 Egg Yolks, 60 gr (1/4 cup) Caster Sugar, 60 ml (1/4 cup) Lemon Juice, 1 Lemon Zest
Whisk in the cubed Butter a little bit at the time until all melted and combined. Continue to cook on low heat whilst continuously whisking for 5 to 15 minutes, or until the curd has thickened (see note 4).
40 gr (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) Unsalted Butter
(optional) Pour the lemon curd through a thin mesh sieve to remove any lumps or bits of cooked eggs.
Set aside for about 20 minutes to cool down slightly, then top over the set Lemon Mousses. Place back in the fridge until ready to serve.
Optional: garnish with Coconut Flakes and fresh Mint Leaves.
Notes
General Disclaimer: I highly recommend using the measurements in grams/ml (instead of cups/spoons) for more accuracy and better results.Ingredients Notes:
Gelatine: follow the water quantity recommended on the gelatine package. Different brands have different recommendations; I personally used about 1 tablespoon of cold water.
Lemon Juice: you might need more or less lemons depending on how big they are and how much juice they will give you.
Lemon Zest: I used the zest of 1 lemon for the mousse and 1 lemon for the curd. You can add more if preferred for an even tangier flavour.
Cream: make sure it has at least 30% fat content, or it will not whip.
Sugar: both the cream and the curd are quite tangy. If you prefer your desserts to be more on the sweet side, feel free to increase the quantity of sugar.
Instruction Notes:
To know the lemon cream is ready, you can either use a food thermometer (it should be about 82'C / 180'F) or check its consistency with a spoon. Dip the back of a spoon in the cream, draw a horizontal line in the cream with your finger (be careful, it'll be hot) then tip the spoon down. If the line stays clear (no cream drips back over it), it's ready.
A good tip to fold the two creams more easily is to first whisk in a little bit of the whipped cream into the lemon cream. This will thicken the lemon cream slightly, which will make folding in the rest of the whipped cream easier.
The mousse will appear quite runny when you pour it into the cups, that's completely normal. It will set once chilled in the fridge.
Follow the same technique as described in note 1 to check if the curd is cooked enough.