Summer Fruit Mousse

Okay, so I feel that I need to admit to something before anyone starts reading this post. This was a failure. A complete failure. And it doesn't count until I get it right so I will give it another go further down the track.

I followed all the instructions, beginning with boiling the juices, raspberries, and vanilla - my first short cut, I used vanilla essence instead of a vanilla pod. The smell from this boiling mixture was magnifique. 

Fresh fruits for the mousse

I soaked, I sieved, I cooled. My next major failure was the sugar/water syrup, I did not own a candy thermometer and thought I could "wing it". I could almost hear the groan from all the chefs out there. Apparently you can't just wing it. It went perfect! Oh my google, I was winning.

But all our best chefs out there know this wont last. It turned to hard and grainy mixture! QUICK! Add more water, this brought it back to a syrup. I quickly added it to my 'whisked to a peak' egg whites and after it cooled and I had mixed it on a lower speed for a while I added the raspberry-gelatin mixture with the whipped cream.

Whipped cream is a hard one to measure, do you stick it down in the measuring cup to get it level, or do you leave it with a few holes in it? So I was pretty sure I was off with the cream measurements. After a little more mixing I found my mixture was not 'pink' and I had little white 'pills' through the mixture.

I figured that would sort itself out and added red food coloring for effect. I did not have the 'PVC rings' quoted in the book so I used small glasses from the cupboard.

"Summer Fruit Mousse"

And the dish up ends up looking like this, even after I let it set for about 6 hours.

Summer Fruit Slop

It still tasted delicious though!