You may have heard that we had a hurricane here in the Boston area over the weekend. Except we didn’t, really. By the time Irene arrived in Beantown, she was considerably weakened and downgraded to a still-potentially dangerous tropical storm. And for those of us who don’t live in seashore communities, her effects were pretty mild. At our house, there was some gusty wind, lots of rain, and a few large tree branches in our yard. That was it. So was it worth all the hype? I certainly think so. After Katrina, community leaders can’t afford to be complacent. They need to be proactive instead of reactive when facing a storm such as this. So we heeded their advice and took some precautions, filled containers with drinking water, cleared our patio of furniture, grill and potted plants, and made sure we had flashlights, batteries, and transistor radio at the ready. All of these measures turned out to be unnecessary, but that, of course, is a good thing.
We also spent most of Saturday cooking our little hearts out. This wasn’t hurricane prep so much as we just felt like it. I picked every single tomato from our garden that even a hint of colour, thinking that I’d rather them ripen inside than end up blowing away in fierce winds. With those that were fully ripe, plus a few pounds from the farmer’s market, I canned tomatoes to have some for the winter. I also made some lovely gazpacho for dinner. My husband made burgers with the intention of grilling them, but it had already begun raining by Saturday afternoon, so they were cooked on the stovetop. We cooked some ribs too, having found some on sale at the grocery store. And I made a lovely frozen treat that I’d had my eye on for quite some time.
The inspiration for this came from a cookbook I was given at my bridal shower. It’s crazy to think that this was almost 10 years ago! It’s one of those gorgeous, picture-filled cookbooks from Williams-Sonoma, simply titled “Dessert”. One of my good childhood friends knew that such a book would appeal to me greatly, and it certainly did. I haven’t actually made that many items from it, but it’s one of those books that is just a pleasure to look at and thumb through. And I happened to be thumbing through it this summer, when the recipe caught my eye as a perfect candidate for a low carb makeover.
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There was so much to love about the recipe, the elegance of it, the way the mousse rose above the rim of the ramekin so perfectly. And the fact that two of the main ingredients, eggs and cream, are staples in any low carb pantry. But to my eyes, there were also a few unnecessary steps in the instructions, like using room temperature eggs, and stirring the citrus curd frequently while it cooled. The latter would have been particularly hard to do, since the instructions also said to lay plastic wrap flush to the surface, which would mean removing and replacing the plastic wrap constantly while trying to stir. So, as always, I did it in a way that made more sense to me. But I did take the time to fit the ramekins with parchment-paper collars, so I could get the mousse to rise perfectly above the rim of the cups. I also cut the recipe down to 4 servings, since this sort of dessert is best served as fresh as possible.
The Results: I knew using chilled eggs would work just fine! And I knew that stirring the curd would be unnecessary. My version was truly lovely, an elegant, rich dessert that tastes light and citrusy. Creating little collars for the ramekins is technically unnecessary too, you could simply spoon the mousse into mounds above the rim. But if you have the time to do the collars, I would say to do it. Especially if you are having company, it somehow makes the final product look more impressive.
I will say, if you are going to make these ahead of time and freeze them for longer than a few hours, they will harden up considerably. Be sure to let them soften in the refrigerator for an hour or so before serving.
Frozen Citrus Mousse
4 large eggs, separated*
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
18 drops stevia extract
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Prepare four 3/4-cup capacity ramekins by fitting them with paper collars. Cut strips of parchment that are 1 inch longer than the diameter of the ramekin and 1 inch higher than the height of the ramekin. Wrap the paper strip around the ramekin and secure with tape.
In a medium glass or metal bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice, stevia and salt. Set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, but do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water. Whisk constantly until mixture just begins to thicken, 8-12 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan, add citrus zest, and continue to stir until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Press a piece of plastic wrap flush to the surface of the curd and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 2 hours.
When curd is chilled, whip cream in a large bowl until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted. In another large bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. With clean beaters, beat the whites until foamy. Gradually add erythritol and continue to beat stiff but not dry.
Whisk the lemon mixture until smooth and add to whipped cream, folding in gently until just combined. Add the egg whites and fold in until combined. Divide mixture among prepared ramekins.
Freeze mousse 2 hours, until firm but not rock hard. Remove collars and serve.
Any portions that do not get eaten after 2 hours of freezing should be wrapped tightly in plastic to avoid freezer burn. Let soften in refrigerator for half an hour to an hour before serving.
*Use Safest Choice Pasteurized Shell Eggs if you are concerned about the consumption of raw egg whites.
Serves 4. Each serving has 3.6g of carbs.
Emily @ A Cambridge Story says
This looks light yet decadent and full of flavor. Love the idea!
A Thought For Food says
That looks marvelous! My kind of dessert!
Megan says
Love this recipe Carolyn…I loved how you saved your tomatoes from impending hurricane doom!
Jeanette says
So glad to hear that the hurricane had died down by the time it reached you. So nice that you were able to finally try this recipe and added your own adjustments to make it even simpler.
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
I agree that the storm wasn't over-hyped. I'm happy I was more prepared than necessary… much better that than the other way around!
What a wonderful hurricane dessert:-)
Katrina {In Katrina's Kitchen} says
Well I'm g;ad you were safe. And Carolyn these are gorgeous! I want to taste one!
Sandi G says
Carolyn,
Every time I visit your site I'm in awe of your pictures, so I just looked at your food gawker pics too, so GREAT!
Per your comment on my blog, AGREE, fresh cilantro w/everything is wonderful 🙂 Make it a great day!
Jill Colonna says
Sounded like the perfect Saturday in the kitchen, creating your own storm with these gorgeous, zingy desserts. They look fabulous, Carolyn!
Parsley Sage says
I'm totally coming to your next 'hurricane' party! The tummies were totally covered 🙂 Glad to hear you're safe and sound!
The Mom Chef says
Great minds think alike. I saw the comment about stirring the curd and immediately thought, "why don't they just put the plastic wrap flush on the curd's surface?"
I love this mousse (as you knew I would). Definitely my kind of dessert. I'm assuming regular sugar would work just as well? 🙂
I'm glad Irene petered out before she got to you.
Yesim says
It looks so nice.. i never tried this before.. i like to see new things and learn , whenever i get chance wanna give a try;)
Sandra says
I am so happy that hurricane weakened before it came to your city..
Frozen citrus mousse, count me in:)) love this idea, and I think you did fantastic job on these..sounds very delicious looking at the ingre…would love to try it one of these days!
RavieNomNoms says
I am glad you didn't get as much of the damage as other people did. That is always good to hear.
This mousse is so gorgeous Carolyn. You did such a nice job with it, wow!
Charlie says
This mousse looks and sounds amazing! I really love citrus desserts :).
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
I think I have to bookmark this one because I am always on the look out for low-carb desserts like this! Thanks for sharing!
Tiffany says
Yeah, I def. think better safe than sorry! And plus… you got to make delicious wonderfulness like these frozen mousses!! 😉
Jane Bonacci - The Heritage Cook says
These look amazing and I can't wait to try making them. Thanks for sharing!
Pauline says
I love it when the mousse goes above the ramekins too. They look lovely am very tempted to try.
Lindsay @ Delighted Momma says
I love you for making this and I dont even know you 🙂 I am pinning this now!! Cant wait to try it
Cassie @ Bake Your Day says
Great recipe, Carolyn. This sounds like a great alternative to ice cream. I love your healthy recipes!
scratch-made wife says
They're absolutely adorable little desserts! I'm glad they turned out nicely for you. And I'm glad you were spared in the storm last weekend. My hometown was not quite so lucky, and my parents are still without power and could be for at least the next five days. 🙁
egb says
Looks light and fresh! Great summer option. Yum.
Beloved Green says
I love how the mousse rose so beautifully!
Kim Bee says
This recipe is so lovely, fresh and inviting. Love it. I like that it's made to be mini's so each person can enjoy their own. People seem to really like that. I'm glad you guys were okay and that you saved your tomatoes. Lol! On a side note I passed your blog on to a friend who was looking for gluten free recipes. So she will be stopping by.
Cookin' Canuck says
I'm glad you didn't get hit hard by the hurricane!
This mousse is so pretty and I'd imagine it would be really refreshing on a hot day.
Lizzy says
Oh, these look delightful…perfect for a hot summer night's dessert!
Kari says
I'm glad that the worst of the bad weather passed you by 🙂
This looks absolutely amazing. I love that it's frozen, but still looks mousse-like!
Kate Thompson says
Yum! I am ready for a low carb sweet! Thanks for all your low carb recipes and wonderful ideas!
Erin says
I love the idea of a frozen mousse! Sounds like a perfect summer dessert!
Nicole - Bake Me Blush says
That mousse looks so delicious and light. I'm in the mood for ending a meal with a light frozen treat and this recipe looks like a keeper 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Karen says
What a perfect light and summery dessert…the citrus flavors must be so zesty! I love the idea of frozen mousse.
I'm so glad Irene wasn't too bad for you…I've never experienced a hurricane, but I don't think I'd want to even if it was weakened!
Erin says
Looks like quite the treat! Glad that the storm turned out to be basically nothing. But you are right, you can't be too careful!
Heather Jacobsen says
I'm so happy the hurricane didn't amount to much. I lived through one of the worst hurricane seasons in Florida, where we had 7 storms (2 named) hit us in one season. One of those was Katrina, which hit hard (but not as hard as in LA). Another, Rita. Lost power for a total of 4 weeks that season! The others were not so bad. But you just never know which one is going to be "the one". As they say in Florida – prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
I love that you made this amazing looking mousse. I may have to do that for my next hurricane party. Or just my next party. 🙂 Do you have any idea if I could whip nutcream or coconut cream and substitute for the whipped cream?
Magic of Spice says
Glad the storm turned out to be mild and you did not get any damage 🙂
This recipe is wonderful…such a gorgeous dessert!
marla says
This mousse looks light and wonderful!
briarrose says
Glad to hear you didn't suffer much damage from the storm.
Such charming little cups. Beautiful job.
Jen at The Three Little Piglets says
I'm a big fan of the pictures in the Williams-Sonoma cookbooks. I have one called Vegetable, and that book makes me so hungry for brussel sprouts it's ridiculous. And I don't even like brussel sprouts! The mousse looks simply divine…
Mary. says
What is the “erythritol”, to make this recipe? Where can I find it?
Carolyn says
It’s a sugar substitute and in many stores, you can find it under the brand name Truvia.
Mary. says
Can I make this recipe into a vanilla flavored version, by just Substituting vanilla bean, or vanilla flavored extract?
Carolyn says
I don’t think that will fully work, because it takes 1/2 cup lemon juice. How will you substitute for that?
Mary. says
Well, it might make it taste sort of “cheesecakey”
Carolyn says
Feel free to give it a go, I just can’t be sure what will happen! 🙂
Low Carb Sweet Eater says
If this recipe is half as good as the picture looks these will be awesome! I maybe just missing it in the above recipe directions but at what point do you add the zest? I am assuming it goes in the lemon curd mixture but do you add it while cooking over the double boiler? Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to try this out!
Carolyn says
Yes, with the lemon curd while cooking it. Thanks!
Jessica Maria says
Woops… My curd is currently in the fridge sans zest…was just looking through whole recipe to see when to add…I’m sure it will be fine without…
(Novice Kitchen Person here haha)
Mary. says
Can I use sugar, in place of the artificial sweeteners?
Carolyn says
Absolutely!
Mary. says
Thankx! And BTW I luv cheesecake! 😉
Brenda says
This recipe looks yummy, I’m going to try it, but have a question. Lemon, lime, and orange zest are mentioned in the ingredients list I do not see in the instructions where they are added. Have I missed it? Thank you.
Carolyn says
All fixed!