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    Home » Recipes » Gluten-Free

    Published: Aug 11, 2013 · Modified: Jun 9, 2022 by alexandra · This post may contain affiliate links

    10 Pound Cherry Challenge: Cherry Neapolitan Mousse

    Jump to Recipe

    Update: The 10 Pound Cherry Challenge Contest is open for voting! I would love it if you'd vote for me by "liking" the photo for this recipe (and my other cherry recipes!) on OXO's Facebook Page. Here's the link for this recipe's photo. Voting is open until Friday, August 16th at 4PM EST. 

    Whew! This hectic cherry-filled week is finally wrapping up. It's been a blast, but oh my goodness...

     10 pounds of Cherries  and 5 recipes/posts all in one week - pretty crazy!

    I don't want to say I saved the best for last, because I don't know how you can pick between sweet rolls and scones, or ice cream and mousse, but.... let's just say I saved the ultimate for last. The one that took the most testing, the one that looks the fanciest, and the one that feels like it deserves its finale role.

    Cherry Neapolitan Mousse | brighteyedbaker.com this recipe

    Gosh, I love mousse. It's looks sophisticated and it tastes dreamy, it's light and rich and the same time, it's just a showstopping dessert - never fails. The idea of cherry mousse was intriguing, but seriously, I couldn't do without the chocolate. That's where the "Neapolitan" comes in (I just had to make it more fancy, you know). Instead of the typical chocolate-strawberry-vanilla combo for a Neapolitan dessert, I'm changing it up with chocolate-cherry-vanilla - not really vanilla, but non-chocolate, that is. Anyway, sometimes you just have to break the rules a bit, and this mousse is worth it. ;)

    Rule-breaker or not, this Cherry Neapolitan Mousse is flat-out incredible. The bottom layer of chocolate mousse is rich and silky; it's a mousse to fulfill every chocolate craving you never knew you had (or something like that). The cherry layer is its total opposite - light and airy, with bright fruity notes. As different as they are, the two mousses pair perfectly. They'd be great together without anything else, but really, you can't go all fancy making your own mousse and NOT whip up some cream. So, whipped cream on top it is, along with a fresh cherry dipped in sparkling sugar. All in all, it's a pretty fantastic and gorgeous dessert.

    Cherry Neapolitan Mousse | brighteyedbaker.comI'll let you in on a little secret - mousse isn't that difficult to make! But still, you have to pretend it is, so you can really impress everyone who tries it. ;)

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    Cherry Neapolitan Mousse

    Cherry Neapolitan Mousse | brighteyedbaker.com
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    A sophisticated dessert with three delicious layers - a rich and silky Chocolate Mousse, a light and fruit Cherry Mousse, and fresh Whipped Cream. Plus, of course, a cherry on top!

    • Yield: 4 glasses 1x

    Ingredients

    Scale

    Roasted Cherry Purée

    • 13 ¾ ounces (2 ½ cups) pitted bing cherries
    • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

    Chocolate Mousse

    • 4 ½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used 70%)
    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small cubes
    • 2 egg yolks
    • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 2 ⅛ ounces (¼ cup) roasted cherry purée
    • 8 ¼ ounces (1 cup) heavy cream

    Cherry Mousse

    • 1 ½ tablespoons cold water
    • 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
    • 5 ⅞ ounces (⅔ cup) roasted cherry purée
    • 2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 8 ¼ ounces (1 cup) heavy cream

    Whipped Cream

    • ice and cold water, for ice bath
    • 1 ½ tablespoons cold water
    • ¼ teaspoon unflavored gelatin
    • 4 ⅛ ounces (½ cup) heavy cream
    • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
    • 4 bing cherries, rinsed and dried, for garnish
    • sparkling sugar, for garnish

    Instructions

    Roasted Cherry Purée:

    1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Toss cherries with sugar in an 8" square baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, to soften cherries and release juices. Juices should be thickening.
    2. Transfer cherries and juices to a blender and purée well, until as smooth as possible. (My blender has a soup/syrup/fondue button which I found works best.) Strain through a fine mesh sieve and discard solids. Place in a container, cover, and chill well before using.

    Chocolate Mousse:

    1. Heat a saucepan filled about halfway with water to bring to a simmer, preferably with a double boiler insert set on top. Prepare chocolate while water is heating.
    2. Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl for 30-second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted and smooth. Add butter and stir in until melted, and until the mixture is smooth once again. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl and set aside to cool.
    3. Place yolks in a medium bowl that fits over the pot or double boiler. Off of heat, whisk yolks until paler in color. Slowly pour in sugar while whisking and whisk until mixture is a pale yellow. Continue to whisk as you stream in the 2 ⅛ ounces (¼ cup) roasted cherry purée, whisking well to combine.
    4. Place egg mixture over the saucepan/double boiler, making sure that whatever setup you use, the bowl with the eggs does not touch the simmering water. Whisk vigorously and constantly while eggs are over heat until mixture has paled and thickened, so that when you lift the whisk the mixture (called a sabayon) holds its shape for a brief moment before smoothing back into the remaining sabayon. DO NOT stop whisking the sabayon while over heat. Once done, remove from heat and continue to whisk until no longer warm. If you hold up the whisk, the sabayon should ribbon down from it. Strain through a fine mesh sieve (optional, if you think you may have any bits of cooked egg in your sabayon) and transfer to the bowl with the chocolate. Fold in until evenly combined.
    5. In the chilled bowl of a stand mixer (or with a bowl and a hand-held electric mixer) beat cream just to stiff peaks - be careful not to overbeat. Fold into the chocolate mixture in three parts. After the final addition, fold just until the mousse is smooth, with no uneven streaks of color.
    6. Pipe or spoon the chocolate mousse into 4 serving glasses, filling each halfway.* Cover the tops of each with a square of paper towel and a layer of plastic wrap on top. Chill in refrigerator as you prepare the cherry mousse.

    Cherry Mousse

    1. Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl about ⅓ of the way with ice and covering ice with cold water. Set aside.
    2. Place 1 ½ tablespoons cold water in a small bowl. Sprinkle over gelatin and stir in. Set aside while gelatin blooms.
    3. In a small saucepan, stir together 5 ⅞ ounces (⅔ cup) roasted cherry purée with sugar. Place over medium heat and stir slowly but constantly as the mixture comes to a low, sluggish boil. Stir and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 1 minute. Add gelatin and whisk in until smooth.
    4. Strain cherry mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl. Place bowl over ice bath and stir constantly until the mixture has cooled and thickened.
    5. In chilled bowl of stand mixer (or other bowl), beat cream just to stiff peaks - again, be careful not to overbeat. Fold into cherry mixture in three parts, continuing to fold just until the mousse is smooth and even in color.
    6. Pipe or spoon cherry mousse over chocolate mousse in serving glasses.* Cover with paper towel and plastic wrap and chill for a few hours, until both mousse layers have set and are cool.

    Whipped Cream:

    1. Place cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle over gelatin. Stir together and let sit for 5 minutes to bloom gelatin. Microwave for 5-10 seconds at a time, stirring in between increments, just until gelatin has completely dissolved; do not let the mixture boil. Set aside.
    2. In chilled bowl of stand mixer (or other bowl), whip cream just until thickened, but not quite at soft peaks. Reducing beating speed to low, slowly stream in sugar. Keep beating on low as you slowly strain the gelatin mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the cream. Continue to beat just until stiff peaks form.
    3. Pipe or spoon whipped cream on top of cherry mousse. Dip fresh cherries in sparkling sugar and place one cherry on each assembled glass of mousse. Serve immediately. Mousse can also be covered gently with plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator for a few days. Add cherry garnish just before serving.

    Notes

    Depending on the size of your serving glasses, you might be able to make more than 4 servings. Also, you might end up with a little extra of one type of mousse - which shouldn't really be a problem at all. ;)

    Have you made this recipe?

    Tag @brighteyedbaker on Instagram and hashtag it #brighteyedbaker

    Chocolate Mousse Adapted From: A Culinary Journey With Chef Dennis

    Cherry Mousse Adapted From: Grace's Sweet Life

    Disclosure: As part of my participation in the 10 Pound Challenge, I was sent cherries and tools from OXO and Northwest Cherry Growers. I was not compensated for writing this post and all opinions expressed are 100% my own.

    Digiprove sealCopyright protected by Digiprove © 2013

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    1. Ana Fernandez says

      August 14, 2013 at 11:42 am

      Yum! Looks super great and love the cherry on top

      Reply
      • alexandra says

        August 15, 2013 at 1:25 pm

        Thanks Ana!

        Reply
    2. Tieghan says

      August 13, 2013 at 9:18 pm

      Holy yum!!! These look so fun and pretty!! I love any and all mousse, so these are calling my name! Gorgeous!

      Reply
      • alexandra says

        August 14, 2013 at 11:42 am

        Thanks Tieghan! I'm obsessed with mousse too, but I already told you that. ;)

        Reply
    3. Erin | The Law Student's Wife says

      August 13, 2013 at 8:07 am

      Oh my, I feel fancy just looking at this mousse! So lovely and I love the cherry twist. Can I extend my pinky while I eat it? That just feels right.

      Reply
      • alexandra says

        August 13, 2013 at 8:57 am

        Haha yes, of course! Why didn't I think of that?!

        Reply
    4. Consuelo @ Honey & Figs says

      August 12, 2013 at 1:39 am

      I adore mousse too and this one looks incredible!! I've loved this challenge and I can't wait to try some of the recipes! And for sure I'll be voting for you tomorrow, the only problem is that I don't know which recipe to choose, because they all looked fantastic. Although I think that the sweet rolls were calling my name ;-)

      Reply
      • alexandra says

        August 12, 2013 at 2:17 pm

        Thank you SO much Consuelo! I really appreciate it. :D Let me know if/when you give any of the recipes a try!

        Reply

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