Strawberry Mousse (Mousse à la fraise)

How to Make Strawberry Mousse with Gelatine

I prefer a French strawberry mousse with gelatin, as it best sets a liquid strawberry purée (or pulp) with the most mousse-like consistency. I love that light and airy texture, don't you? Perusing the classic French chefs' cookbooks as a base, my favourite is by Pierre Hermé. He uses strawberries, lemon, cream, Italian meringue (see below), and gelatine sheets. As I ran out, I used powder - here's how.

To use gelatine sheets (leaves) or powder, the method is easy:

• Gelatine sheets: use 3 sheets @ 2g each. Soak in a bowl of cold water for 10 mins.
• Gelatine powder: use 6g (a sachet) to make up the equivalent of 3 sheets. Soak in 3 tablespoon of cold water for about 3 minutes. Ideally, use the instructions given on the packet.

Whizz the strawberries into a purée with a blender.
Gently heat half of the purée in a saucepan (don't boil), take off the heat then dissolve the gelatine, stirring until combined. Stir in the rest of the purée.

How to Make it Without Gelatin

Prefer your strawberry mousse without gelatin? This makes a great vegetarian option - just note it won't be as firmly set. Simply use the purée and no need to heat it. The whipped egg whites still create that lovely airy texture, much like other chocolate mousse recipes.

That said, bear in mind chocolate naturally sets thanks to the cocoa butter, so it doesn't need help. Strawberries (and raspberries), however, are mostly water so without gelatine, the mousse stays soft and light, more like a fluffy fruit foam.

Strawberry Mousse with Egg Whites - French Meringue

Unlike Pierre Herme's method of Italian meringue which involves making a syrup (and needs a thermometer), I prefer to whip up the egg whites the French meringue way. It's less faffing about for us lazy gourmets and does the job (like I do to make raspberry macarons).

So whip up the egg whites until stiff and glossy peaks, gradually adding the sugar. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whip the cream until quite firm.

Then fold the strawberry purée (with or without the gelatine) into the egg whites, then the chilled cream, and spoon into serving dishes. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

What Can I Make with the Leftover 3 Egg Yolks?

With 3 egg whites, you'll have egg yolks, which are best to use straight away fresh. So try out any of these recipes with 3 egg yolks.

What is a French Mousse?

In French, 'mousse' means foam and it's the best way to describe its consistency when a spoon is inserted. According to French dictionaries like Larousse, it's definition includes savoury mousses:

Mousse: A light, melting savoury or sweet preparation made from finely blended ingredients and whipped ingredients (fresh cream, egg whites, Italian meringue for mousse desserts). Mousses are sometimes moulded (often with gelatine added) and generally served cold."

Larousse Gastronomique, French dictionary

Unlike a strawberry panna cotta which is more of a chilled set cream or a fruit bavarois recipe which is similar but more dense and fruity, a strawberry mousse adds freshly whipped egg whites and gelatine to whipped cream and a fresh strawberry purée. They're all fruity but this fruit mousse recipe is the lightest in texture.
This recipe can easily be made using raspberries to make a raspberry mousse.

Can Strawberry Mousse be Frozen?

Indeed, this recipe can be frozen and served as a frozen mousse rather than defrosted. Just ensure you place them in dishes that can go in the freezer (unlike what I did here with cocktail glasses!). Add more fresh strawberries to serve.

What Goes with Strawberry Mousse?

I love to serve this with extra fresh strawberries and crispy French tuile cookies made with flaked almonds (and uses up 2 egg whites). The contrast of the textures and the flavours complement each other so well. To keep this dessert gluten free, serve with coconut macaroons or raspberry macarons.

This serves 6 large portions but can serve up to 8 people, depending on your serving dishes. Here I used cocktail glasses but as we've broken a few, we have some versions for baby bear!

Looking for more mousse recipes? Try these next:

• French chocolate mousse
• 100% pure chocolate mousse
• chocolate passion fruit mousse
• white chocolate mousse

For another no-bake strawberry dessert,
try Strawberries with Orange (fraises à la Maltaise).