Sunday, August 30, 2009

Blackberry Mousse Recipe



I am slowly getting back into the blogging mood. We had two exceptional meals during our French trip, one by Anne-Sophie Pic, the other by Jacques & Régis Marcon. Both meals deserve their own blog post - and let me tell you that I've been daydreaming about their food since we returned :) However, as we're in the middle of jam-making and pickling season here in Estonia, the food at home has been exceptionally low key and simple.

Blackberries do grow wild in Estonia, but they're nowhere as popular - or well known and easily found - as they are in Britain, for instance. I managed to pick up a punnet of blackberries at the Central Market few days ago. As they're quite an infrequent visitor in our kitchen, I decided to divide the berries into three portions and make three different dishes. The first one up - a simple creamy mousse.

If you're wondering about the hat on the picture, then that's the required chapeau I wore at the wedding in France :)

Blackberry Mousse
(Õhuline põldmarjavaht)
Serves 4

150 g ripe blackberries
40 g sugar (about 1/3 cup)
quarter of a lemon (grated zest and juice)
200 ml whipping cream
1 Tbsp brandy (optional)

Place blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a large bowl and crush with a back of a wooden spoon.
In another bowl, whish the cream until soft peaks form. Pour over the berries and continue whisking until the mousse is thick and airy. Fold in the brandy.
Spoon the mousse into dessert bowls and garnish with whole blackberries.
Serve at once or chill until ready to serve.

4 comments:

Claudia said...

Oh, that Mousse is so beautiful. My favorite color. We used to pick blackberries here, near Volcano (a higher elevation) and worth it for the pies and now, mousse!

Scott at Real Epicurean said...

My blackberries (yes, I grow them in the garden, despite them growing wild in fields all over here) are *almost* ready. This looks like a great use for them!

Pille said...

Claudia - thank you!

Scott - you're lucky to have so many wild blackberries!! They do grow wild here, but only in few hidden places!

Lana said...

I made this blackberry mousse for a barbeque. It was wonderful! But I didn't have enough cups for serving so I took sheets of filo dough and packed them into muffin tins. They baked into these delicious crispy filo dough cups and I put the mousse in that. They were a hit.