Lemon Mousse (and more)

November 12, 2024

Lemon Mousse (and more)

When Walmart has a sale, I can't resist. So, when there was a sale on lemons, and I needed to come up with a dessert for a dinner party, I bought 8! It wasn't until I got home that I realized I had no idea what I was going to make. I promptly started to scour Pinterest for a recipe that I liked. There were several things that I wanted to try so I started off by making lemon curd.

To make lemon curd I started by juicing 8 lemons. I ended up with about 1 cup of lemon juice. I then took 3 eggs and whisked them into the lemons. Then, I poured that into a saucepan and added 1 cup of granulated sugar. I heated it all up until the mixture was evenly combined. Do not let the mixture get too hot or else the eggs will cook unevenly and separate.

Next, I take off my lemon mixture off of the heat and I cut in 1/2 cup of butter. At this point, you could add about 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, but I saved all of mine to put in the finished mousse. I continued to stir my curd until all of the butter was melted and everything was combined until smooth. When the butter was melted I transfer the curd into a different container and put it in the fridge. Your curd should cool for at least 6 hours but I cooled mine overnight.

While I was waiting for my curd to cool I wanted to figure out some way to use the leftover lemon peels. I needed a garnish for my finished mousse so I decided to make candied lemon peel. To start, I cut most of the white off of my peels and boiled them for 10 minutes. I, then, strained my peels and put them back in my pot with about 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. I mixed everything together over low heat until the sugar dissolved. When it was dissolved I brought my peels to a simmer and let them simmer for about an hour. When they were done simmering, I strained the liquid into a mason jar to save for later and spread the lemon peels on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Before the peels cooled I sprinkled them in sugar and tossed a bit. I then let them cool for an hour before I put them in a mason jar with a little more sugar. As I was putting the peels in the jar I made sure none of the peels were stuck together. I shook everything up in the jar to make sure all the peels were coated and not sticky.

I also set some peels aside to dry to make lemon powder. I plan on using it in tea when I have a sore throat but you can also use it in any recipe as a substitute for lemon zest. To make lemon powder I cut the peels in small pieces and took off most of the white parts of the peels. Then, I put the peels in the air fryer at 300 degrees F for 18 minutes, tossing them halfway through. Once all of my peels are dry I used my coffee grinder to turn the dried peels into a powder. I could've also used a food processor but I didn't have enough peels to make pulling all of that out worth it.

The next day I started on my mousse. This part is the easiest of everything I made with these lemons. All I had to do was make whipped cream with a pinch of salt, then add in the curd and continue to whip. When everything was light and fluffy I put my mousse in 8 little dessert dishes and refrigerated until that night when we were ready to eat! I served them straight from the fridge and garnished with frozen blueberries and candied lemon peel. It was so yummy! So light and sweet but not too sweet. A little tart but not too much. It was the perfect finish to a super filling supper.