This light, fluffy mousse with fresh raspberry flavour and soft floral notes is easy to make and a dream to eat! Creamy and delicious you can make it with heavy cream or lighten it up by using aquafaba (chickpea liquid and the vegan option for this mousse.) It has far less calories and fat than dairy and makes a heart healthy low-cal version that is equally delicious!
Using high in fiber raspberries provides the potassium in this dessert, which is essential to heart function, and proven to lower blood pressure but you can also make it with strawberries which are vitamin and antioxidant rich. Rose petals provide a good dose of vitamin C and lovely floral notes to this dessert, and roses also help calm the digestive system.
The secret to the beautiful colour in this mousse is a pinch of hibiscus. You can certainly make it without, but the colour of the mousse will be slightly different. If you don’t want to use tart hibiscus, a good substitute is beetroot powder which is slightly sweeter and earthy. Either way this mousse is a light, fluffy and delicious concoction that you’ll want to make again and again!
Raspberry Rose Mousse
Raspberry Rose MousseINGREDIENTS
• 2 tablespoons of organic dried rose petals
• 3-4 petals of organic dried hibiscus (sub a pinch of beetroot powder)
• Scant ½ cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons of honey (or to taste)
• 2 ¼ cups fresh raspberries
• 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons of gelatin (vegans sub *agar agar)
• 1 cup of well-chilled heavy cream, whipped (vegans or low calorie option – substitute with *aquafaba)
HOW TO
STEP 1.
• Put rose and hibiscus petals in a heat proof container
• Pour over freshly boiled water, cover and steep 10 minutes
• Strain, pushing on petals to release all the liquid. You want to end up with ¼ cup of tea. Discard/compost the petals
• Stir honey into warm tea until it melts, then set aside in fridge to cool
STEP 2.
• Place the raspberries and lemon juice in a food processor and puree
• Strain and discard seeds
• Transfer puree to a bowl and set aside
STEP 3.
• Put the ¼ cup chilled rose tea in a small saucepan. Sprinkle over gelatin and let it sit for a minute.
• Now put the saucepan over low heat and stir mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Continue stirring for an additional 1-2 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir into raspberry mixture. Refrigerate mixture for an hour until slightly thickened
STEP 4.
• Meanwhile whip the heavy cream to medium peaks
• Using a rubber spatula fold ½ of the whipped cream into chilled raspberry mixture until incorporated and no white streaks remain. Now fold in the remaining half of the whipped cream being careful not to deflate the mousse. Once you no longer have any white streaks divide the mousse into 4 dessert bowls and chill until firm.
TO SERVE
GARNISH OPTIONS:
• Fresh raspberries
• Organic rose petals
• An extra dollop of whipped cream
• A dusting of ground hibiscus or ground beetroot powder
TIPS
• Aquafaba is the liquid leftover from cooked chick peas. It can be whipped into a foam and used in desserts as a vegan option to dairy and has far less calories and fat than dairy. An easy way is to get the liquid without cooking the beans is to use canned chick peas which are already cooked. Simply drain the juice from a can of chickpeas (garbanzos) into a bowl and whip with a hand or stand mixer until soft peaks form. It takes several minutes to whip so you’ll need to use a mixer and a good dose of patience, but the results are worth it! A truly lo-cal healthy dessert!
• For a softer or firmer mousse adjust gelatin up or down by 1/2 teaspoon.
• If you don’t want to use animal based gelatin a good substitute is agar agar which is a plant based gelatin derived from red algae. Use half the amount of agar agar powder than the gelatin powder called for in a recipe.
