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Strawberry-White Chocolate Mousse

By Amanda Luchtel

Published on March 5, 2024

Time

55 minutes, plus 4½ hours cooling and chilling

Yield

Serves 8

Strawberry-White Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered, plus 8 hulled and sliced strawberries for serving1 3⁄4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin 1⁄2 cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 4 ounces white chocolate, chopped1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Before You Begin

Be sure to weigh your strawberries before prepping them (package labels can sometimes be inaccurate). We developed this recipe with a Ghirardelli Premium White Chocolate bar; do not use chips, which won't set up the same way. You can make extra whipped cream to top the mousse with just before serving.

Instructions

  1. Process strawberries in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Strain strawberries through fine-mesh strainer into 4-cup liquid measuring cup or bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much juice as possible (you should have 2¼ cups strained puree); discard solids.
  2. Transfer ¼ cup strawberry puree to small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over juice, and whisk to combine. Let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes; set aside.
  3. Bring 1¼ cups strawberry puree, sugar, and lemon juice to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until liquid is syrupy and reduced to 1 cup, 12 to 15 minutes.
  4. Off heat, spoon 1 tablespoon strawberry reduction into each of eight 4- to 6-ounce glasses or jars. Add chocolate to strawberry reduction left in saucepan and whisk until fully melted (reheat briefly over lowest heat as needed if mixture has cooled). Add softened gelatin mixture and whisk until gelatin has dissolved and mixture is smooth; transfer to large bowl. Whisk in remaining ¾ cup strawberry puree and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
  5. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Gently whisk one-third of whipped cream into strawberry-chocolate mixture in large bowl. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in remaining whipped cream (taking care to scrape up any strawberry mixture from bottom of bowl) until no white streaks remain.
  6. Divide mousse evenly among prepared glasses. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Top with sliced strawberries. Serve.
Strawberry-White Chocolate Mousse
Photography by Steve Klise. Styling by Joy Howard.

Strawberry-White Chocolate Mousse

Save

Time

55 minutes, plus 4½ hours cooling and chilling

Yield

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered, plus 8 hulled and sliced strawberries for serving
1 3⁄4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1⁄2 cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered, plus 8 hulled and sliced strawberries for serving
1 3⁄4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1⁄2 cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered, plus 8 hulled and sliced strawberries for serving
1 3⁄4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1⁄2 cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Why This Recipe Works

Strawberries' subtle sweetness and taste make it difficult to get an intensely flavored strawberry mousse. To ensure that our mousse had robust strawberry flavor, we combined fresh strawberry puree with a strawberry reduction (strawberry puree that we cooked down with sugar for sweetness and lemon for balance). We used some of the strawberry reduction as a sauce and portioned it into individual serving glasses to reinforce the strawberry notes in the mousse. To ensure that the mousse set up, we used two stabilizers: gelatin for structure and white chocolate for a rich, creamy body. Using both allowed us to control the texture without the mousse becoming too chewy from too much gelatin or too chalky from just white chocolate. To aerate the mousse, we folded in whipped cream. The final result was a light, creamy mousse with strawberry-forward flavor.

Before You Begin

Be sure to weigh your strawberries before prepping them (package labels can sometimes be inaccurate). We developed this recipe with a Ghirardelli Premium White Chocolate bar; do not use chips, which won't set up the same way. You can make extra whipped cream to top the mousse with just before serving.

Instructions

  1. Process strawberries in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Strain strawberries through fine-mesh strainer into 4-cup liquid measuring cup or bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much juice as possible (you should have 2¼ cups strained puree); discard solids.
  2. Transfer ¼ cup strawberry puree to small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over juice, and whisk to combine. Let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes; set aside.
  3. Bring 1¼ cups strawberry puree, sugar, and lemon juice to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until liquid is syrupy and reduced to 1 cup, 12 to 15 minutes.
  4. Off heat, spoon 1 tablespoon strawberry reduction into each of eight 4- to 6-ounce glasses or jars. Add chocolate to strawberry reduction left in saucepan and whisk until fully melted (reheat briefly over lowest heat as needed if mixture has cooled). Add softened gelatin mixture and whisk until gelatin has dissolved and mixture is smooth; transfer to large bowl. Whisk in remaining ¾ cup strawberry puree and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
  5. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Gently whisk one-third of whipped cream into strawberry-chocolate mixture in large bowl. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in remaining whipped cream (taking care to scrape up any strawberry mixture from bottom of bowl) until no white streaks remain.
  6. Divide mousse evenly among prepared glasses. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Top with sliced strawberries. Serve.

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