Raspberry Cheesecake Mousse

If you haven’t noticed I’m super obsessed with desserts in cups lately, and even more so creamy, luscious desserts in cups. Recently I’ve posted Chocolate Pots de Crème, Salted Caramel Pots de Crème, Lemon Cheesecake Mousse and Banana Cream Pie Cups with Salted Caramel Sauce. And now these Raspberry Cheesecake Mousses, and my oh my are these good!! They are bursting with vibrant, fresh raspberry flavor and they have that light and creamy, perfectly smooth and silky mousse texture that I can never get enough of. I originally made these as strawberry, I had a big family get together at my house and decided to try a dessert I’d never made before. Anyway it ended up not having enough flavor for me (even after simmering and reducing the strawberries and therefor concentrating the strawberry flavor) so I ended up having to add a strawberry sauce to the top of them. They were good, just not as good as I knew raspberry would be plus they took more effort. These still have a few steps with all their layers but the end result is so worth it! My husband said they reminded him of his favorite fresh raspberry shake, and that’s what I love so much about these is all the fresh raspberry flavor in them. These are the perfect dessert to welcome summer or for Mother’s Day, both of which are not too far around the corner. I don’t know of anyone who wouldn’t love these! I know I’ll be wanting to make them more than I should this summer :). So much goodness in one little dessert cup!

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Raspberry Cheesecake Mousse

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

    Mousse

    15 oz (3 1/2 cups) fresh raspberries
    2 tsp gelatin powder
    3 Tbsp (45ml) cold water
    1 1/2 cups (355ml) heavy cream
    12 oz (340g) cream cheese, softened
    2 1/4 cups (260g) powdered sugar, divided
    1 tsp vanilla extract
    Red food coloring, optional

    Crust

    1 cup (120g) graham cracker crumbs (8 full sheets)
    2 Tbsp (26g) granulated sugar
    1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted

    Topping (optional)

    3/4 cup (175ml) heavy cream
    2 Tbsp (26g) granulated sugar
    10 - 20 fresh raspberries
    Mint leaves


Directions

For the mousse!
Pulse raspberries in a food processor until well pureed. Force puree through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove seeds (you should have 1 1/3 cups puree). Set aside.

Pour 3 Tbsp water into a small microwave safe bowl, sprinkle gelatin evenly over water then let rest 5 minutes. Heat gelatin mixture in microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Remove and whisk for 1 minute, let cool 4 minutes until just warm (don't let it cool completely or it may start to set).

[post_ads]Between stages of gelatin resting prepare whipped cream and cream cheese mixture as listed here - In a medium mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer whip heavy cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Add in 1/4 cup powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form (just shake excess from beater blades, no need to wash for next step). In a separate large mixing bowl using hand mixer, blend cream cheese and 2 cups powdered sugar until combined. Add in vanilla and red food coloring if using (I think I used about 14 drops liquid coloring) and mix until combined then increase to high speed and whip until light and fluffy about 2 minutes. Mix in strained raspberry puree and add in lukewarm gelatin/water mixture and mix until well combined. Fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture, then add remaining and fold just until combined. Transfer to refrigerator while preparing crust layer (don't chill longer than 30 minutes you don't want it to set).


For the crust and assembly:
In a medium mixing bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Pour in butter and using a fork, stir until evenly moistened. Divide mixture among 10 dessert cups and lightly press into an even layer. Working in batches add mousse to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe over crust layer in cups (it will be slightly runny so you can just hold a spatula over opening while moving bag from cup to cup). Repeat with remaining mousse. Cover cups with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator 3 hours until set.

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If adding the toppings (add these just before serving):
In a medium mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer whip heavy cream until soft peaks form, add in sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip then pipe cream over mousse. Add 1 - 2 raspberries to each then garnish with mint leaves.

Recipe source: Cooking Classy