“So often in life things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great good fortune.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
In life I have found that adversity is often an essential ingredient for growth. Experience has taught me to be grateful for all those seemly sour lemons. Because life’s most delicious moments come when you are brave enough to embrace them and whisk in a little sugar.
I began Maison McCauley five years ago as a way to write a new beginning for myself. I had just made a big cross country move, and left my legal career behind and at the time I was feeling a bit lost. However, as I learned it’s never too late to write a new beginning. Looking back, although I was worried about hitting publish on my first post I am so grateful that I did. So to celebrate this occasion, I decided to design and add some new artwork to my blog and writing home.
However, it wouldn’t be a celebration at Maison McCauley if it didn’t include dessert. In honor of the occasion, I created a new recipe in for Lemon Mouse Parfaits. This sweet and incredibly light mousse is paired with buttery shortbread. Its like the best lemon bar you have ever tasted!
So thank you friends because after 283 posts, 133 recipes and over 205,000 words I am grateful that you keep coming back to read more. Writing this blog has been incredible because it took a seemingly hard moment in my life and made it into the best and most delicious journey imaginable.
Lemon Mousse Parfaits -serves 6
Lemon Mousse
- 3 large eggs
- 3 large eggs yolks separated (save two of the egg whites)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large or 4 small lemons)
- 2 egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons of sugar
- ¼ cup lemon curd
- ¾ cup shortbread cookies, crushed into course crumbs
- lemon zest twirls, fresh berries and mint leaves for garnish
Shortbread Cookies
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature for at least 1 hour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vanilla candy melts or chopped white chocolate (decoration for the cookie garnish)
First make the base for the lemon mousse. Fill a large sauce pot with water and get a double broiler pan or a heat proof bowl ready. Heat the water over medium heat till it comes up to a simmer.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer combine 3 eggs, 3 egg yolks and 1 cup of sugar. Beat them together on low speed. Then slowly drizzle in the lemon juice while continuing to beat the eggs and sugar.
Once the water is at a simmer turn the heat down to medium low and place the bowl or double broiler pan on top. The pour in the egg and lemon juice mixture and whisk it constantly as it cooks over the simmering water. Continue cooking and whisking it for 10 to 12 minutes until it is thick like a pudding or pastry cream.
Then remove the bowl from the pan. If using a double broiler place the lemon mousse base a medium sized bowl. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes and then cover it with plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate it until it is completely chilled about 1 hour.
Now while the lemon mousse is cooling make the shortbread cookies. If you are running short on time then you could substitute store bought cookies; however there is nothing like homemade shortbread.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In the large bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour, sugar and salt. Then cut your butter into small pieces, like you would for pie dough or biscuits. Add the butter into your flour mixture and blend on low.
Then as the butter begins to get cut into the flour increase your mixer speed to medium and add in your vanilla. Continue mixing the dough until it just comes together. This dough will be very crumbly, but the butter will help it all it to be press together.
Roll the dough out to a ¼ inch thickness on a lightly floured surface and cut it into small circles with a 2 inch diameter cookie cutter or something similar.
Bake the cookies on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 7 to 8 minutes until the very edge of the cookies is a light just barely golden color.
Allow the cookies to cool and if you want a patisserie like finish decorate them with melted white chocolate or candy melts. Place the white chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl. Then microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds. Stir and continue to heat it at 20 second intervals stirring in between until it has just melted.
Place the chocolate into a small pastry bag and cut a small tip off the bottom. Create a lattice like pattern on onside of the cookie by creating three lines on a diagonal and the cross them with three more diagonal lines going the opposite direction. Then smooth the chocolate off the side of the cookies with your finger.
Finally, finish the lemon mousse and assemble the parfait. Place two egg whites and ¼ teaspoon of salt into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until the are soft and foamy add in 2 tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat them until the egg whites are slightly shiny and they form stiff peaks.
Carefully fold the egg whites into the cooled lemon mousse base using a rubber spatula or spoon.
Then place 3 cups of heavy whipping cream and 4 tablespoons of sugar into the bowl of the stand mixer. Beat the whipped cream on high until stiff peaks form.
Fold 1 cup of the whipping cream into the lemon mousse and then fold in ¼ cup of lemon curd.
Assemble the parfaits by placing about 2 tablespoons of shortbread cookie crumbs in the bottom of 6 small bowls or dessert cup. Then pipe or carefully spoon about am even amount of mousse into each of the bowls. Then take the remains 2 cups of whipping cream and pipe or spoon a generous swirl on top of each dessert.
Decorate the lemon mousse with a shortbread cookie. If you want to add a festive touch then top it with some blueberries, blackberries, a mint leaf or a lemon twist. Now matter how you serve them these lemon mouse parfaits are wonderful.
Lemon Mousse Parfaits are a wonderfully light and sweet desert. Perfect for holidays like Easter and Passover because the shortbread cookies don’t have any leavening in them. The mousse can be made ahead of time and then decorated with the berries and mint before they are served. Bon appétit! These French lemon mousses make any day you create them celebration and that in my mind is what cooking is all about.
