Custard and Mousse Archives

Pumpkin Pots de Creme

3|11|2024

Gooey, creamy, rich, spicy and simply delicious, these pumpkin pots de creme are an easy dessert that can be made ahead for a crowd or even for a weekend indulgence. You could say, they are like digging into a divine pumpkin mousse.

Funny, but its’s spring in the southern hemisphere. There are a variety of fruits to choose from, yet inspired by pumpkin recipes all over my socials, I made not one but two pumpkin desserts on the same day. We don’t get store bought pumpkin puree in Australia so when I made a huge batch of puree, I wanted to put it to good use. Besides, pumpkin pots de creme is made using egg yolks for the rich texture. The egg whites were perfect to make pumpkin financiers/friands. I’ll share the recipe next.

I decorated the pumpkin pots de creme by melting and coloring white chocolate into leaf molds for the autumn feels. Feel free to serve with candied pecans, grated dark chocolate or even crushed honeycomb.

If you love pumpkin desserts, don’t forget to check out this Pumpkin Creme Caramel and this Pumpkin Cake.

Pumpkin Pots de Creme
Makes 5-6 depending on the size of your cup

1/2 cup milk
11/2 cup heavy/thickened cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup home made (or store bought) pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp powdered cinnamon
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
white chocolate leaves, to decorate

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C ( 140 degrees for fan-forced ovens) .Combine cream and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Add the pumpkin puree and spices and mix till blended. Pour the warm cream mixture over the egg yolk mixture, little at a time whisking constantly until smooth. Take care not to add the entire cream to the eggs together as it can overcook the eggs resulting in scrambled eggs.

Divide the custard into five or 6 lightly-greased, ramekins or ovenproof cups. Place in a deep baking tray. Pour boiling water into baking tray until halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake custards, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes or until just set (while the centers are slightly jiggly when shaken). Remove from the oven and take the ramekins out of the water bath. Leave to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until set.

Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu

31|08|2024

Since you guys loved my Lychee & Raspberry Cheesecake so much, I decided to create the same flavour magic in a Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu. After all it is such a delicate and beautiful combo. the best part about this Tiramisu is that it does not require you to add eggs other than the store bought ladyfinger biscuits that may have eggs in them.

To get a strong lychee flavour, the spongefingers are dipped in the lychee syrup from the can of lychees. How convenient is that! There is no wastage and saves you the time to make a syrup from scratch. The raspberry puree in the Lychee and Raspberry Tiramisu is a wonderful contrast to the creamy mascarpone and sweet lychee soaked biscuits.

Overall it is an elegant dessert, a delicious twist to a classic Tiramisu and very easy to put together. It can be made ahead and perfect for a crowd.

Lychee & Raspberry Tiramisu
Makes a 9 inch dessert (if round)

18-20 Ladyfinger biscuits, depending on the size of your pan
1 can pitted lychees in syrup (560 g)
1 tbsp frreze dried powdered raspberries
Raspberry Puree Layer (recipe below)
Mascapone Layer (recipe below)

Raspberry Puree
1 cup frozen raspberries (can use fresh too)
1/4 cup castor/granulated sugar
2 tbsp lychee syrup from the can

Mascapone filling
250 g mascapone cheese (or use cream cheese if mascarpone is not available)
1/3 cup (66 g) castor/granulated sugar
1 cup (240 ml) cold thickened cream/heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the lychees and lychee syrup : Place the syrup from the can in a shallow dish, reserving 2 tbsp for making the raspberry puree. Chop lychees into quarters. Set aside.

Make the raspberry puree : In a medium saucepan, place the raspberries, sugar and lychee syrup. Over low-medium heat, cook until raspberries break down and mixture has thickened. Approx 10-12 mins. Remove from heat, allow to cool down.

Make the mascarpone layer : With an electric mixer or by hand, beat the mascarpone and sugar until light (about 2 min). Pour the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until almost stiff peaks are formed. Cover bowl with cling wrap and store in the fridge until needed.

Assemble : You could use a 9 inch cake pan or pie dish or an 8×8 square cake pan. Working one at a time, dip about half the quantity of ladyfinger biscuits in the lychee syrup and place in a single layer in the bottom of pan. Make sure to do it quickly, not letting them soak too long or they may fall apart. Break ladfingers in half and quarters if needed to fill up gams until you have an even layer.

Spoon half the raspberry puree and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Scatter half the chopped lychees over the raspberry layer.
Dollop about one-thirds of the mascarpone filling over the lychees and even out with an offset spatula.
Repeat the process with the remaining ladyfingers, raspberry puree and lychees. For the last layer, place the mascrpone filling into a piping bag and pipe kisses or you could just spread it with a spatula if you don’t want to use a piping bag.

Dust with raspberry powder. Cover the dish with cling wrap taking care not to smudge the piped mascarpone. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours, preferably overnight.

Lemon and Coconut Mousse

9|02|2019

I came back after a month long holiday in India to a blazing Sydney. A family wedding, cool winter days and so much fun with family and cousins some of whom I was able to meet after years. I realized I had to push myself to get back into work and creative mode this week. Sydney on the other hand was at it’s sunny best when I returned. I almost had a shock when I saw that my backyard had a growth spurt over the weeks it was left unattended. Yet, the lawns and the outdoors have lately become my favourite spot to shoot in. The light, the green vibes and generally the airy feeling has been inspiring enough to get me on my feet. With valentines’ day round the corner, I can find more excuses to use floral decorations and bright colours.

I was looking for an easy recipe for lemon Curd without eggs for a long time. A lot of friends have told me that they love lemon curd but home recipes tend to have an eggy smell and flavour. Finally, having gone through several different recipes, I came up with this version. There are no eggs, but it has a good lemon flavour with a subtle hint of coconut. The classic lemon curd (with eggs) is still my favourite but this one is great for people with egg allergies and vegetarians and more so if you love the lemon-coconut combo. It comes together quickly and tastes delicious. If you don’t want to make the mousse and want to just enjoy the lemon curd on it’s own either as a topping or a spread, that’s fine too.
The food colouring is optional. Without food colour this lemon curd is white. I’m so used to a bright, lemony yellow curd normally, so I used it. Feel free to leave it out if you wish to.

Lemon and Coconut Mousse
Serves 6

Lemon Curd
Makes 1 cup (approx)
3/4 cup coconut cream (made by refrigerating a can of coconut cream overnight. Once chilled, the fat/cream hardens and separates from the liquid content. Scrape off the cream from the top without disturbing the liquid.)
2 tsp lemon zest
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup castor sugar
1-2 drops of yellow food colour (optional)

Lemon Mousse
1 cup thickened cream
2 tbsp castor sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
3/4 cup lemon curd

To make the lemon curd : Place the coconut cream, lemon zest and castor sugar in a medium saucepan.
In a small bowl place the lemon juice and cornstarch together and stir to dissolve. Add this mixture to the saucepan with coconut cream.
Bring the saucepan to a boil over low heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens and turns into a lemon curd consistency (The lemon curd will thicken further upon cooling) Make sure you scrape the sides of the pan to ensure there are no lumps and the texture is smooth. Remove from heat. Add the food colour (if using) and stir to blend. Cool lemon curd to room temperature and store in the fridge to refrigerate.

Make the lemon mousse– In a large chilled metal bowl whip the thickened cream and sugar to almost stiff peaks. Fold in the lemon curd until well blended (do not whisk or over-mix). Divide between serving glasses. Refrigerate. When ready to serve, garnish with coconut chips, grated white chocolate or edible flowers. Enjoy!

Easy Tiramisu Cups

14|08|2018

Light, easy and deliciously coffee-ish Tiramisu cups. Egg-less and quick to put together.

Sometimes it is so nice to forget about seasons and seasonal produce and just think of DESSERT! Aka sweet, creamy, indulgent, moist, gooey, addictive….you get my point? Dessert without planning, without complicated ingredients, without neat layers or perfectly piped tops. Just the pleasure we derive from a simple but seriously delicious treat. I am huge fan of the classic Tiramisu but two things I don’t enjoy are that they call for raw eggs and they do involve a few dishes and some work. Absolutely worth it for the gorgeous flavour and texture they turn out to be but not every time one would have the zeal to go through the entire process. I choose to still make it by cutting out the complicated steps, keeping it’s core ingredients intact and converting them into more-ish little portions that are so easy to whip up.

Texturally these are creamy but light. When we did away with the eggs, we also took away some of the richness of the dessert and gave them an airy, moist texture. But the king is always the coffee. A intense shot of espresso does wonders as much as a good quality instant coffee. For the sake of convenience and accessibility, I have included instant coffee in my recipe . If you have a coffee machine, do make it with strong black coffee. The after taste is unbeatable!

Easy Tiramisu Cups
Serves 3

1/2 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup castor sugar
120 g mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 tablespoon Kahlua (optional)
6-7 sponge finger biscuits (or sponge cake slices)
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1/2 cup boiling water
3 tbsp cocoa powder

Beat cream and sugar until soft peaks. Add the mascarpone cheese and beat until just combined but with stiff peaks. Fold in Kahlua if using. Refrigerate until needed.
When ready to assemble, place the coffee and boiling water in a shallow dish and mix to combine.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of the mascarpone mixture into serving glasses. Dip sponge finger biscuits into the coffee and layer on top of the cream. Dust with cocoa powder. Repeat the layers until you have reached the top. Pipe whipped cream and dust with more cocoa powder. Enjoy chilled!