Friday, June 19, 2009

Summer Sun In a Bowl


As much as I love, love LOVE to bake, when summer starts to heat up, I start looking for different ways to put something sweet on the table without turning on the oven. My freezer is pretty well stocked with ice cream, so I was pleased to find a new, cool dessert in Ina Garten's new cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.

It's a lovely, tangy lemon mousse. Just a little time with the stove and then it's refrigerator time all the way! You can put it into a trifle dish, individual parfait glasses, or, like I did, my fabulous $10 at a garage sale crystal bowl. Isn't it nice? And if you look closely at the rim, you can see that I do live in the land of tall evergreens. Also, if you're not from the land of tall evergreens, you might not know that gorgeous flower is a rhododendron, the state flower of Washington.

There, don't you feel all educated? Now go whip up some mousse to enjoy when the sun's beating down on you.

(Note: I'm listening to the rain beating down on my deck as I type this. This is Washington, after all. But on the plus side, that means I can bake today!)

Fresh Lemon Mousse
- Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

3 extra-large eggs
3 extra-large eggs, separated
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup good bottled (or homemade) lemon curd, at room temperature
Sweetened Whipped cream
Sliced lemon for garnish


1- In a large heat-proof bowl, whisk together the 3 whole eggs, 3 egg yolks, 1 cup sugar, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and cook, stirring constantly witha wooden spoon for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the mixture is thick, like a pudding. Use a whisk when the mixture begins to thicken.

2- Take the bowl off the heat and set aside for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, until compleltely chlled.

3- Place half the egg whites (discard the other half or save to stir into scrambled eggs or an omelet) and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed. Add the remaining f2 tbsp sugar and continue to beat until the whites are stiff and shiny. Carefully fold the beaten whites into the cold lemon mixture with a rubber spatula.

4- Place the cream in the same bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (no need to clean the bowl or whisk) and beat on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the lemon mixture. Fold in the lemon curd and pour into a souffle dish or your prettiest serving bowl. Decorate with sweetened whipped cream and lemon slices. Chill and serve cold.



Sweetened Whipped cream

1 cup cold heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract


Place the cream, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the shisk attachment. Whip on medium and then high speed untilt he cream just forms stiff peaks. Spoon the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

16 comments:

Marjoke said...

Aaaah this one looks so lovely. Wouldn't you just like to put your hands in that cloudy mousse?
This will be our treat for this summer!

Aimée said...

Lovely recipes! Can I tuck into this with a big spoon? I'll be back around mid-July to try this when it's way too hot to bake

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

It took me forever to be able to remember the name rhododendron ... love them.
Lemon Mousse ... perfect summer!

Anonymous said...

it is definitely too hot to bake today.. this looks so yummy!

grace said...

this treat is the epitome of a refreshing dessert. light and fluffy and bright and tasty. excellent.

Katrina said...

That does look nice and refreshing! Yum!

We Are Not Martha said...

This looks like the perfect summer dessert! I LOVE lemon and citrus type treats in the hot weather. Too bad it's not hot here in Boston yet :(

Sues

Maria said...

Dreamy dessert!! Perfect for summer time!

Anonymous said...

How beautiful! I think I might try this in a trifle bowl, as you say. Trifles are definitely my favorite no-bake (or at least, just-a-bit-bake) desert for the summer! And lemon is always nice when it is hot outside.

eatme_delicious said...

Yum what a perfect summer dessert! And I love that the mousse doesn't use gelatin, as many seem to. I think it'd be yummy made into a trifle as well, though that would mean turning on the oven. ;)

Justin said...

yeah, this is perfect. i sure love to bake, but my tiny kitchen gets way too overheated in the summer. this is a good idea.

Jannett said...

nice summer dessert...photo are great. :)

Melinda said...

You know I love lemon stuff. I had a dessert last night called lemon posset which was a so delicious!

Karen Baking Soda said...

I'm a lemon addict! (think I should start keeping a lemon notebook with all recipes lemon.) Bookmarked!

Kristen said...

Oh Lynn, doesn't that look delicious? What a refreshing summer treat!

Lien said...

Sooo delicious, ahh lemon mousse, that really gives me a summery feel!
I've been writing a post about lemonmousse too (great minds think alike)... just waiting for the pictures of the mousse (that are missing and hopefully still on the old PC) to be found again.