Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse
Mousse is a delightful dessert: rich, creamy, light, and fluffy–some times chocolatey, some times fruity, but always delicious. As a part of my strawberry lust, I decided to have some of the best of both worlds with a strawberry white chocolate mousse.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, strawberries are at their peak in my neck of the woods–they taste great and are stunningly cheap, so being a frugal man, I bought several pounds of strawberries without any forethought. The solution? Make lots of dessert!
I’d been meaning to make a chocolate mousse for some time, but that idea always got swept aside when something better came along. However, this just seemed like a perfect combination, so finally, mousse got to have its day! I adapted this recipe from a chocolate mousse recipe in The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert and the result was fantastic–a very light dessert that has you thinking summer despite it only being the meek beginnings of spring. The mousse was creamy, fluffy, slightly pink, and specked with slivers of strawberry throughout. The taste was sweet, creamy, and just strawberry through and through with the white chocolate providing more of a backbone and not an in-your-face chocolate flavor that really complimented the strawberry well.
Also, be forewarned that like most mousses, this contains raw egg whites, so if that doesn’t jive with you, this will be more of a food porn experience than gastronomical foreplay.
This is also one of my entries in Strawberry Seduction–and its not too late for you to join in while the winter crop is at its peak!
- 1 lb strawberries
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 8 oz white chocolate
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 4 eggs (at about room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- small amount of gelatin or cornstarch for thickening
Begin by pureeing some of the strawberries. The goal is to have about 1 cup’s worth of puree, which out of a pound of strawberries, will amount to roughly 3/4 of your berries, so hull no more than 3/4 of them and put them all through a food processor or blender, pulsing until very smooth. You might consider putting the ugly ducklings in the puree, saving the sexier strawberries for later.
Of course, all of those seeds might detract from the silky smooth mousse texture that we’re going for, so pour all of that puree through a strainer, pressing and rubbing it with your hands to help speed it on through. Let this continue to drip and strain while you work on other things.
So we had a few other great looking strawberries remaining. Hull them and slice them into moderately thin strips, maybe even halving those down into smaller chunks. We will ultimately mix these pieces in with the mousse to provide a little visual appeal, interesting texture, and little bursts of strawberry flavor. You might consider saving your absolute super model strawberries for garnish later on.
Anyways, onto the rest of the mousse. Set up a double boiler, getting some water gently simmering in a pan with a bowl set up over the heat (forming something of a seal but not in direct contact with the water!). In the bowl, add the white chocolate chunks as well as the butter (also broken into chunks) and whisk this as it melts down until totally mixed, glossy, and smooth.
Once the chocolate mixture has melted down, take it off of the double boiler and away from heat. Separate your eggs, setting the whites aside in a bowl for later. Add the yolks to the chocolate mixture one at a time, whisking very well until completely incorporated before adding the next yolk. Finally, mix in the vanilla, whisking until fully incorporated and smooth again. Let this cool for about 10 minutes, periodically stirring. It should look thick and just be tempting you sample a scoop.
Now, take the strawberry puree and squeeze in the lemon juice to help keep it looking good and give it a little bite. Set 1/4 cup of this aside in the fridge container for garnish at serving time. We’re going to mix the remaining ~3/4 cup of puree into the chocolate mixture. However, this will thin this beautifully thick mixture out a bit. Due to poor planning, I didn’t have any gelatin handy, so I hastily boiled a cornstarch slurry to activate it (about 1/4 tsp of cornstarch mixed with a small amount of water, I might use a little more next time) and then mixed it in with the puree. Finally, mix the puree in with the chocolate mixture, stirring well.
While you wait on that, on to the things that will make this mousse nice and fluffy. First, in a bowl, add the heavy cream, whipping on medium speed until semi-firm peaks form when you lift the beaters. This is the kind of thing where stand mixers shine. 
Set this aside and now go to your egg whites bowl with clean beaters. Beat the egg whites and salt on medium-high until you get soft peaks, and once you do, continue to beat while gradually mixing in the sugar which will help stabilize the eggs and get you to your destination: glossy, firm peaks.
So the end is near. All that remains: putting it all together. Begin by gently folding the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula, folding only as much as necessary to get things streaky. Don’t bother trying to make the mixture homogenous or you’ll beat too much of the air out of the cream! Now, do the same with the egg whites, but this time, in the end, continue to fold just until the mousse is totally blended. If you overwork this, all of the air you beat into the cream and egg whites will poof out and your mousse will look sad and sloshy. Lastly, add in the diced strawberries, folding just enough to distribute them throughout the mix.
Finally, cover this bowl with plastic wrap, and let this rest for an hour in the fridge to thicken it up some. Then, portion this out (I used 6 large glasses–or leave it in the same bowl if you so desire) several hours in the fridge to thicken up. Once its serving time, dressing this up to look pretty is easy–simply pour on a bit of the reserved strawberry puree for some color and tartness, add a dollop of home-made whipped cream (er, chantilly!), and finally, top it off one of your super model strawberries.
Enjoy!
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March 24th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Lovely presentation, Mike!
March 24th, 2008 at 10:01 am
these look amazing! strawberries aren’t quite in season yet here, but that hasn’t stopped me. i can’t wait to try these!
March 24th, 2008 at 11:31 am
That’s super model strawberry - definitely an Alessandra Ambrosio!! I want to lick
March 24th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
White chocolate and strawberry! I love the combination! And it looks just beautiful!
March 24th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Trade you a slice of cake for strawberry mousse? Thanks for the cake tips Mike and your marmite will be posted tomorrow!
March 24th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Mmm, this looks lovely! I absolutely adore the Williams-Sonoma collection of cookbooks. While many of the recipes are quite easy to prepare, they are all delicious and often inspire me to take things to the next level. Experimentation in the kitchen in a good thing, as this adaptation of Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse reflects!
March 24th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
you already know that i love strawberries. now you go and throw white chocolate into the mix? thanks a lot, now i’m even more impatient for strawberry season in these parts!
March 24th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Mike, eat all the strawberries while you can and while they are local.
This would be dreamy and I like that you didn’t artificially colour this…let the flavour speak for it.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
We are getting some beautiful strawberries from California in the market right now..LOVING the white chocolate mousse!!!
March 24th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Oh Yum! A major party in my mouth!
March 24th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Mike, this is definitely a topper to your strawberry series! I looove mousse and it’s one of my favorite desserts.
Will ya be having more strawberry posts? We’re inspired and are going to have to link you to death when we make a strawberry dish!
Can’t wait to see what you make with the strawberries tomorrow!
March 24th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Nice photos. Strawberries with white chocolate mousse sounds really good!
March 25th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Yup, Yup, Yup!!!
March 25th, 2008 at 3:20 am
You’re at it again with these berries. It looks wonderful.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:44 am
The photos are great! Strawberries and chocolate mousse…yum. I like how you’ve presented the method.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:13 am
If only strawberries were in season here! That looks delicious!
March 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am
You trying to seduce me now? Oh, go on, then…
March 25th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I just picked up strawberries today to make something for your event
The mousse sounds fantastic!
March 25th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
[...] Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse from Mike’s Table (tags: recipe dessert chocolate Strawberries) [...]
March 26th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Decadent and sinfully delicious looking!!!
March 26th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
You go with all your strawberry recipes! YUM. I am def. jealous that it’s the season in your neck of the woods! Which is interesting b/c your last post was talking about comfort food, which I def. don’t want to eat during the northeastern US’s strawberry season when it’s warm!
This looks fabulous.
amy @ http://www.weareneverfull.com
March 26th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Beautiful dessert — I love fresh strawberries and this is a fabulous recipe!
March 26th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
This looks great! I love the combination.
I gotta start making desserts with strawberries soon too.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Mike, you’re driving me mad with all these strawberry recipe - we’ve got AGES til our season starts :-S
Beautiful pictures - bordering on food porn…
March 27th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I liked the idea of mousse with white chocolate. And yours looks good.
Your blog seems to have been taken over by the colour of strawberries.:D
March 27th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
OK, that looks fabulous, and a tasty way to welcome the new season…
March 27th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Lydia — thank you!
beth — thanks and welcome! They’re hard to resist and will only make you appreciate them that much more when they are in season. Thanks for visiting, I hope to see you again!
cake — lol, I presume you mean the mousse and not Alessandra?
Thanks!
Joy — thanks! They definitely go nicely together flavor-wise.
Pixie — sounds fair to me. Hope to see a slice of cake in there with the marmite, lol. I’ll send back some mousse…I can only imagine how that would look by the time it got there…and thanks again! I can’t wait
Sandie — they are surprisingly good books. Simple, elegant, self-contained recipes that give a great base for experimentation. Thanks!
a.grace — haha, sorry! I hope that the wait will be worth it
Peter — oh I am very on top of that, lol! I’ve probably been going through 2-3 lbs per week… and thanks! I have never been keen on using food colorings–I figure that’s something I’ll leave the store-bought food stuffs. I’ve been really pleased with the color I’ve gotten from these strawberries. Some of the upcoming desserts came out with a sexier color than I had expected.
Bellini — grab them while you can! And thanks!
Deb — thanks!
White On Rice — thanks! Very glad you like it. I hope you like the upcoming posts (there’s still a handful more coming). I can’t wait to see what you guys do with strawberries!
Kevin — thanks!
FlaNBoyant Eats —
noble — thanks! And many more to come
Shari — thanks, I appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed the write up.
brilynn — sorry to hear it–hopefully they will be soon! Thanks!
aforkful — haha, stay tuned, I’ll try to keep you enticed
Tartelette — very glad to hear it–I can’t wait to see what you make! Thanks!
Marie — thanks!
We Are Never Full — haha, I will keep ‘em coming! Thanks! I had reservations about posting the spaghetti post in the midst of the string of strawberry posts, but alas, my posts aren’t quite so in order any more these days anyways (e.g. I still have some old drafts in queue–expect some winter stew-type dishes this spring/summer, lol).
Allen — thanks!
Zenchef — thanks! THe more I do with this, the more I’m coming to appreciate the versatility of strawberries. I’d definitely be interested in seeing what tasty items you’d put together…
kittie — lol, sorry! Just a strawberry peepshow so that the ensuing season will be that much better!
Aparna — thanks!
Haha, yea, I guess the front page is very nearly dominated by strawberry posts. I guess I’m not winning over any readers who are averse to strawberries, lol.
March 30th, 2008 at 5:03 am
[...] Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
[...] I made Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse–light, fluffy, and sweet, this is a summery dessert that ends the meal without leaving you [...]