Mousse de Damasco

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small saucepan
• •Blender
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• •Rubber spatula
• •One 1.5-liter serving bowl or 8 small glasses

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the apricots

   Put the chopped dried apricots in a bowl and cover them with 2 cups hot water. Let them sit for 20 minutes, until they feel plump and bend easily between your fingers. This isn't fuss. Dry fruit needs time to drink, or the blender has to fight and the mousse turns gritty.

2. 2

   Cook to soft

   Drain the apricots and put them in a small pan with 1/4 cup fresh water and the lemon juice. Cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pieces are very soft and shiny. The lemon wakes up the fruit and keeps the condensed milk from making the whole thing too sweet.

3. 3

   Bloom the gelatin

   Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over 3 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes, until it looks swollen and matte. Then warm it gently, just until liquid. Gelatin needs to hydrate before it melts, or you get little rubbery specks. We are making mousse, not punishment.

   Use plain unflavored gelatin, not apricot gelatin dessert mix. One sets the mousse. The other sells you color and perfume in a packet.
4. 4

   Blend the base

   Add the warm apricots, condensed milk, cream, salt, and melted gelatin to a blender. Blend until completely smooth, about 1 minute, stopping to scrape the sides if needed. The base should look glossy and pourable, with no orange flecks hiding in the corners. Smooth now means silky later.

5. 5

   Beat the whites

   In a clean bowl, beat the pasteurized egg whites until foamy, then add the sugar and beat until the whites hold soft peaks that bend at the tip. Stop there. Stiff, dry whites are harder to fold and they leave little clumps, which is how people convince themselves mousse is difficult.

6. 6

   Fold gently

   Pour the apricot base into a large bowl. Add one-third of the beaten whites and stir it in to loosen the base, then fold in the rest with slow turns from the bottom up. Watch for pale streaks and stop when they disappear. The air in those whites is what makes the mousse light, so don't beat it out after doing the work to put it in.

7. 7

   Chill to set

   Spoon the mousse into one serving bowl or 8 small glasses. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, until softly set and cold all the way through. It should hold a spoon mark for a second before relaxing. That is the ponto: tender, not rubbery.

8. 8

   Serve cold

   Serve straight from the fridge. If you want a finish, add a few thin strips of soaked dried apricot on top. Keep it simple. The mousse already came to the table wearing perfume.

Chef Tips

• •Buy dried apricots that are soft enough to bend, not hard little stones. If they're very dry, soak them 10 minutes longer and don't blame the recipe for an old bag.
• •Pasteurized egg whites are the sensible choice here because they stay uncooked. Same texture, less worry, especially when you're feeding guests.
• •The honest shortcut: make it in one big serving bowl instead of individual glasses. It looks less dressed-up, but it chills better, travels better, and saves you time.
• •Don't use powdered mousse mix. If all the flavor comes from a packet, you didn't save time, you outsourced dinner's soul to a label.
• •This is best made the day before. The flavor settles, the texture firms, and you get to enjoy your own dinner party instead of wrestling dessert at the last minute.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the mousse up to 24 hours ahead and keep it covered in the fridge.
• •The apricots can be soaked and cooked up to 2 days ahead. Refrigerate the cooked fruit in a covered container, then warm it slightly before blending so the gelatin mixes smoothly.
• •Do not freeze this mousse. Gelatin and whipped whites thaw watery, and then everyone is sad for no good reason.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 130g)