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| Kiwifruit Mousse |
During the summer, there are a few items you will almost always find in my refigerator – salsa, beer,chutneys and lemon curd. Yeah, I know – salsa, chutney, sure. But lemon curd?? Well, let me tell you – lemon curd is one of those versatile ingredients – its rather like the proverbial “little black dress” – you can dress it up or dress it down and it’s always appropriate. Mixed with whipped cream and egg whites for a quick mousse, spooned into a tart shell and topped with berries or mixed with whipped cream to top a pavlova – it has infinite uses. Which is why it deserves some of the valuable real estate in my refrigerator. When I heard about the Zespri Kiwifruit contest at Camp Blogaway a few months ago one of the first things I thought about was making a curd with it. Once again the “mad scientist” within took over and I began experimenting. I am happy to report that not only did it exceed my expectations but it is good, really, really good!!! Since I had never worked with the golden kiwifruit before, I tried it with both the gold and the more widely available green and it works beautifully with either. Before this contest, I wasn’t familiar with the gold Kiwifruit and after my first taste I was hooked!!! Whereas the green is a bit tart, the gold is more mellow – its flavors are more tropical. Nutritionally, it is very similar to green kiwifruit – the gold though does have over 300% of the daily RDA for Vitamin C – the green of course has over 200% – both are truly nutritional powerhouses and make a perfect snack – or in this case, dessert!
Like lemon curd, kiwifruit curd is very versatile and makes a wonderfully voluptuous and slightly tangy mousse - the perfect ending to just about any meal.
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| Gold Kiwifruit Mousse |
Have you entered to win a free trip for 4 to New Zealand?? Well, if you haven’t, now is the time – visit www. thegreatkiwiadventure.com to enter! All you have to do is sign up to enter. For me, it’s a little more challenging – not only do I have to tell you about it but I also decided to come up with a recipe – so here’s hoping I win a trip to the Bay of Plenty!!
Alright, onto the mousse!! Now, if you’ve never made a curd before, not to worry. It is very, very easy. You simply combine all the ingredients except the butter and cook in a metal bowl over simmering water (or use a double boiler if you own one!). You want to cook the mixture until it is thick and looks like this -
Then you take it off the heat and whisk in the butter – that is all there is too it! The curd will last in the refrigerator for about 3 days so you can make it ahead of time and assemble the mousse a few hours before serving.
Kiwi Mousse
Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups curd
Ingredients for Curd
1/2 cup Kiwifruit puree (from about 3 to 4 Kiwifruit – gold or green)
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
6 Tbsp. butter – cut into small chunks
For the Kiwifruit puree: Peel the kiwifruit and place in a food processor or a blender. Blend until the fruit is pureed. Pass the puree through a fine meshed sieve to remove the fibrous core and seeds. You should have about 1/2 cup of puree. Fill a medium saucepan with about 3 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. If water boils, reduce the heat until it is simmering. In a medium metal bowl, combine the puree, sugar, egg yolks and eggs. Whisk to combine. Set the bowl over the simmering water in the saucepan and whisk for approximately 15 minutes or until the mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon (see photo). Remove bowl from saucepan and whisk in the butter. Refrigerate curd until it is cold or up to 3 days.
For Mousse:
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
In a clean, dry bowl with dry beaters, whip the egg whites into a stiff foam. Depending upon the size of your eggs (I call for large eggs) you should have about 1 cup of beaten egg whites. Set aside. In another clean bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. In a medium bowl, measure out 1 cup of the kiwi curd. With a spatula, fold in 3/4 cup of the whipped egg whites and 3/4 cup of the whipped cream until fully incorporated. Divide among 4 small bowls, cover and refrigerate until cold. Save the remaining whipped cream to garnish the mousse. (Mousse can be made 4 hours before serving).
This is wonderful served on its own or with some small butter cookies
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