Hello Spring time dessert – lemon mousse with sweetened whipped cream! It’s light and fluffy, tart and sweet, and pretty much the most wonderful indulgent dessert for Spring. 

I finally got around to making a recipe for the blog. I will be honest – I have been so unmotivated in my third trimester. Things have just gotten, well, harder. Third time around has been a total different experience for me – much harder, tiring, and painful pregnancy than my other two. I am super grateful as I know this can be normal and it is normal! I am healthy and baby is growing so I am focusing on those two wonderful things until this little guy arrives in a few weeks. 

BUT I am so glad I got around to making this Lemon Mousse for you! I love all the seasons…especially the beginning of them when things are starting to change and you know the beauty of the season is approaching. It’s great! A lemon dessert seemed fitting for this time of year, especially with Easter around the corner. 

I’ve made this recipe before but it was years ago. I loved it then and I still love it now. This recipe is for homemade mousse so it does require some effort, but it is well worth it. You will spend some time carefully stirring and watching the mousse so it doesn’t get too hot and cook the eggs, but that’s the extent of the difficult part. Other than that…it’s the waiting game of letting it cool and set before you can devour it. 🙂

This picture was taken after an hour of chilling or so – you can see it’s super creamy. If it sets longer, it will be a little thicker and have that traditional looking mousse appearance. 

But let’s let be honest here…I was getting antsy and couldn’t wait. If you get antsy…don’t hesitate to enjoy sooner rather than later!

And yes that’s snow in my backyard, but it’s gone now. Looking forward to lemon filled sunshine days from here on out!

Yield: 4-6

Lemon Mousse

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Thick yet light and fluffy homemade lemon mousse topped with sweetened whipped cream. This dessert is perfect for Spring - tart, slightly sweet and so creamy!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

• LEMON MOUSSE:
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon plain gelatin
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• WHIPPED CREAM:
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a small bowl add water and sprinkle with gelatin - let sit for 10 minutes.
2. While gelatin is setting, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add sugar, salt, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Whisk well then slowly add egg yolks while mixing so they don't scramble.
3. Place pan back over medium heat and whisk mousse constantly until thickened and coats the back of spoon - can take up to 10 minutes. Do not let mousse boil otherwise it will cook the eggs. Immediately remove pan if this starts to happen to let cool down then place back on medium-low heat, while whisking.
4. Once mousse has thickened, whisk in the gelatin. Let mousse come to room temperature, stirring occasionaly.
5. Once mousse has cooled, make the whipped cream by whipping the heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla on meidum-high speed until stiff peaks form - use a hand held mixer or stand-alone mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Take half of the whipped cream and gently fold it into lemon mousse using a spatula.
6. Pour the mousse between 4-6 parfait cups and top with whipped cream. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to enjoy! The cooler it gets, the thicker it will be.

Notes

recipe slightly adapted from Jenny Steffens