Cherry Hazelnut Mousse
If I told you that the height lacking, Moulin Rouge reveling, ultimate bohemian artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec was the inventor of (albeit) chocolate mousse, would you believe me? I’m not surprised that he did.
Saying yes too much to life (or just enough), absinthe for breakfast (that one is not a fact), and also a creator of many a lavish dish in the days of can can girls, frilly underwear, and decadence with a Parisian accent (my favorite kind). The translation of mousse is “foam,” but it was first known as “mayonnaise de chocolat,” due to its mayonnaise like whipped texture.
In my time here on Earth, I have never made a mousse. I am a lover of chocolate as much as anyone, but when deciding that I wanted to make a hazelnut mousse, I could find no non-chocolate recipes out there. I decided to make sure the mousse was egg heavy, so the richness was there, and bump up the hazelnut, not only by adding ground hazelnuts, but a little Franglelico liquor. This mousse is a little more creamy than firm, depending on if you enjoy the mousse out of the refrigerator, freezer, or have it sit out for a short time.
I thought of dear Toulouse, and his dastardly culinary escapades. This wasn’t enough. It is cherry season, and me, the Croatian American girl, can’t resist the deep, plush cherry reds with tiny droplets of water beading on the glistening skins, like red can can costumes of girls kicking their legs in the air with all their gusto, while Toulouse looks on and prepares an after show feast for the ladies.
I prepped some drunken cherries, laced with Croatian cherry wine (extract or cherry concentrate works great!) and a little Amaretto to compliment one nut (hazelnut) with another (almond). Sweetened and allowed to cook, the cooled cherries sit at the bottom of any pretty glass or mason jar, topped with the hazelnut mousse.
You can absolutely top the mousse with some whipped cream, but I didn’t feel it was needed, and simply went with some cherry and hazelnut to sit atop it all like the fanciest of hats in late 19th century Montmartre, hiding a face that stayed up all night and danced too hard.
Hazelnut Cherry Mousse
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
For the Hazelnut Mousse
- 1 tbsp Gelatin
- 1 cup Milk
- 5 Egg yolks
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 packet Vanilla Sugar you can use a tsp of vanilla extract as well)
- 1 tbsp Frangelico liqueur
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3/4 cup Hazelnuts
For the Cherries
- 2 cups Cherries, chopped
- 1/2 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
- 1 tbsp Cherry wine/extract/concentrate juice
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cherries
- Chop the cherries and add to a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the sugar and lemon juice and let cook, mixing as it does so, for 10 minutes.
- Add the cornstarch and combine for a few minutes until the mixture thickens.
- Take off the heat and add in the extract/wine/liqueur. Mix in and put back on low heat for an additional 2-3 minutes, so the alcohol burns off completely. Set aside to cool.
For the Hazelnut Mousse
- Combine egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar until the mixture is smooth.
- Bring the milk just to a boil in a saucepan.
- Pour the milk over the egg mixture and combine until fully incorporated.
- Allow the mixture to cool enough to about 110 degrees.
- While the mix cools, combine the powdered gelatin with 4 tbsp of water and let soak. If using gelatin sheets, you can just soak them in enough water as directed before you use.
- Once cooled down, add the gelatin into the mix and combine until all of the gelatin has dissolved.
- Beat the whipping cream into peaks in a separate bowl.
- Fold the whipped cream into the mousse mixture and keep the air inside the mousse as much as possible. Add in the ground roasted hazelnuts and mix throughout.
- Spoon the cooled cherries into glasses or jars and top with the hazelnut mousse. Refrigerate until chilled. You can add more whipped cream on top, or more ground or whole hazelnuts, and cherries.
Notes
- It’s a good idea to only soak the gelatin while the mousse is cooling, so it doesn’t become too firm. Having soaked my gelatin too early, I ran it through a strainer in order to get it to dissolve quickly into the mousse mixture.
- You can add the cooled cherries to the bottoms of the mousse glasses or jars/dishes and refrigerate until the mousse is ready so it doesn’t run into the cherries and ruin the layered look!
- You can make a whipped cream for the topping, but since this mousse is a little less firm and more creamy, I decided to let it and the cherries speak for themselves. The end result is up to you!