Strawberry meringue mousse
I couldn’t let strawberry season pass by without showing you how to make a delicious strawberry meringue mousse, prepared with egg whites. This is one of the desserts that I simply loved as a child – we prepared it only once or twice a year, when strawberries could be found at the market. Fifteen or twenty years ago, you could only find strawberries when they were in season, maybe in May or June, and sometimes in April, I believe.
Nowadays, you can find strawberries all year long, but let’s face it, they don’t even compare to the strawberries that we can find now, at the end of spring and the beginning of summer. It would be a pity not to try this amazing dessert with fresh strawberries, while you can still find the naturally-grown ones.
For this strawberry meringue mousse, you only need a few simple ingredients which combine amazingly in a soft, fluffy and creamy dessert, with no gelatin and just enough sugar to give it a heavenly, sweet taste.
As I said, this dessert is prepared with egg whites. Some time ago, we used to prepare the strawberry mousse with raw egg whites – we simply beat the eggs with sugar, added the strawberry puree, and that was about it.
Since I grew up, I just couldn’t manage to eat raw eggs anymore. I can’t even eat a fried egg which is not completely cooked, so I can’t imagine eating egg whites which are completely raw! The thought of eating raw eggs made me stop eating this dessert for a while, until I found a recipe which solved my problem. ?
The lovely Romanian bloggers from savoriurbane.ro posted a recipe which uses Italian meringue – instead of beating the egg whites with the sugar, you make a sugar syrup first, and add it to the beaten egg whites gradually, while it’s still very hot. This way, the egg whites will slowly cook, and you won’t have to worry about eating them raw. Yay! If I think about it, nothing ever happened to me after eating the strawberry mousse with raw egg whites, but by using Italian meringue, I can enjoy this dessert without any worries at all.
Serve this yummy strawberry meringue mousse with lots of fresh strawberries on top. You can even create layers – add a spoonful of mousse in a glass or small bowl, then some strawberries, then some mousse, and continue until you fill the bowl or glass. You’ll get a pretty dessert which can be served immediately.
Ingredients
400 g (2 cups) fresh strawberries
4 egg whites
200 g (1 cup) sugar
100 ml (0.42 cup) water
A pinch of salt
Directions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring water and sugar to a boil. Turn the heat to low and stir occasionally, until the sugar dissolves completely. Boil the syrup until it thickens a bit, but not until it reaches the consistency of honey. Make a test to see if the syrup is thick enough – in a glass filled with water, pour a few drops of syrup. If the drops keep their shape in the water, the syrup is ready.
- Meanwhile, using a mixer, beat the eggs whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.
- With the mixer still running, carefully pour in the hot sugar syrup. Don’t add too much at a time, just slowly drizzle it in the bowl, over the egg whites.
- After you have poured all the syrup, you’ll see that the mixing bowl is hot. Continue mixing until the bowl has cooled a bit.
- In another bowl, blend the strawberries with a stick blender until you get a smooth puree.
- Add the strawberry puree to the egg whites mixture, and fold it in with a spatula.
- Garnish with fresh strawberries and enjoy!
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