Strawberry and white chocolate mousse

This is one of those great desserts that can be made ahead and made in a hurry. It’s egg free and can be served after an hour or so in the fridge, but will firm up over night and still produce a light and fluffy mousse.

Sometimes I will make a simple crumb base to add a bit of extra texture (blitz some plain biscuits with a little melted butter and spoon into the bottom of each serving bowl before adding the mousse on top), but this is entirely optional!

For these ones, I sprinkled some grated chocolate on the top for a bit of colour.

I updated my little banner this morning – realised it was still in its ‘summer’ mode even though today is the first of August, zero degrees C outside and rain forecast! Yes, it has been THAT long since I posted a recipe. But here we go, something to lift the soul and sweeten the heart. 

• Time: 15 minutes preparation. At least an hour to set
• Difficulty: moderate (multiple steps)
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Makes: 4

Ingredients:

• 100 g white chocolate, the best you can get
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 50 ml milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 gelatine leaf, soaked in water for five minutes
• 300 ml double cream
• 100 g strawberries (or raspberries), pureed.

Method:

• Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Snugly fit this bowl over a saucepan with simmering water in it on the stove top (ensuring the bowl does not touch the water) and stir until melted. Remove from heat.
• Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk and heat in a separate pot until steaming hot. Squeeze the water from the gelatine leaf and add to the hot milk, stirring until dissolved.
• Whisk the vanilla milk into the melted chocolate and set aside to cool to room temperature.
• In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form.
• Fold the cream into the melted chocolate and finally, add the strawberry puree and stir a couple of time to make a swirl pattern.
• Spoon the mousse into small serving bowls, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (ideally four) until set, or until you cannot wait any longer to eat them.

Strawberry mousse