Key Lime Mousse on Honey Tuile Crust

Hubby's birthday dinner was last night (more on that later); Greg's birthday is today. Our work group comprises a small, tight-knit band of friends. We don't do presents but we'll go out and eat together. We don't sing Happy Birthday to each other, which fact furthers and strengthens our camaraderie; as I sing only to offend people and hasten hearing loss, I contribute by baking cakes or desserts.

For Greg's birthday, I had planned to make key lime pie as he had expressed a particular craving for something with lemon or lime recently.

However, in the wake of last night's nine course exercise, inevitable inebriation (6 bottles of wine, 9 people, only 6 of whom were actively quaffing), and a kitchen that looked as though the Tasmanian Devil had whizzed through, making a key lime pie was not possible.

This morning I got up early to have a cup of coffee with Hubby's sister, who had come in last night as a surprise dinner guest, and was on her way back to Atlanta for a meeting. I still wanted to make something for Greg's birthday, and the fridge was fully stocked so I had my choice of dessert possibilities. In the end, time defined what I could make. As deadline-sensitive desserts go, however, this is probably one of the most refreshing I've made in a while.

I still had tuile batter from last night's dinner and a bag of key limes that I had picked up on a recent shopping expedition with Renee. While the tuile batter was baking, I made the pâte à bombe with lime syrup, and a bowl of lime-zested whipped cream in under 30 minutes, then left the pâte to cool. By the time I had finished blow-drying my hair, the pâte à bombe was ready to be mixed with the whipped cream and spooned into ramekins layered with loosely crumbled honey tuile cookies.

Incidentally, this pâte à bombe recipe is modified from a Gordon Ramsay recipe. His book, Just Desserts is one of the most useful and exquisite books in my library. Chef Ramsay calls for an Italian meringue to be added to his mousses (I think for texture), so I'll have to try that sometime, but I think this recipe is just fine on its own. The mousse needs to be chilled at least 3 hours, but honestly, it was good to go after two hours. I also stuck an extra ramekin into the freezer to make a Key lime parfait. We'll see how that comes out.

Happy Birthday Greg!

Key Lime Mousse on Honey Tuile Crust

Pâte à Bombe

3/4 cup sugar
4 T fresh squeezed Key lime juice (about 12 key limes)
3 T water
6 egg yolks

Bring sugar, Key lime juice and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Insert a candy thermometer into the pan. Bring another pot of water to boil.

Beat eggs until to the ribbon stage (they will be thick and pale in color, and fall in a heavy "ribbon" when you lift the beaters) in a large glass bowl, about 10 minutes. When the syrup hits 250 degrees F, carefully pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, beating on high speed. Make sure not to pour the hot syrup on the beaters as it could splash. The mixture will double in volume and airy after continuous beating for about 7 minutes. Place the bowl over the hot water and continue beating about 3 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and let the pâte cool. This makes about 2 cups of pâte à Bombe

Honey Tuile Crust

8 T unsalted butter (1 stick)
4 large egg whites
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cups all purpose flour

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Sift the flour and sugar together. In a separate bowl, combine the butter and honey until pale. Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Slowly add the egg whites, making sure each egg white is fully incorporated before adding more.

Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of batter on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat mat or parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes, or until cookies are firm. Remove from the tray and allow the baked tuile sheet to cool, about 15 minutes.

You can also use this recipe to make tuile cookies. Simply use a spoon and spread the batter into circles. Bake for the same amount of time, but when you remove the tuile cookies from the oven, drape them immediately over a rolling pin for the characteristic tuile shape. To make a tuile cup, drape the warm cookie over an upended custard cup, hold the shape in place with your hand. It will cool and harden quickly.

Another variation is a chocolate tuile -- simply add 1/4 cup of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.

Key Lime Mousse

1 cup Pâte à Bombe
1 cup heavy cream
1 t Key lime zest
Crushed honey tuile cookies (enough to line 8 ramekins)

Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the zest and whip an additional minute. Don't overbeat the cream; you want as much volume in the whipped cream as possible.

Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the pâte to lighten the egg-syrup mixture. Fold in remaining cream and mix well.

Using your hands, crush the tuile cookies and crumble loosely into ramekins. For a finer crust, pulse in a food processor and combine with melted butter. Press into the bottom of the ramekin. Frankly, I'm much fonder of the broken cookies for a crust rather than a fine crust bound together with butter.

Spoon the mousse into 8 individual ramekins. Chill for at least 3 hours. Or freeze overnight for a light parfait.

Comments

[Nic]

Lucky birthday boy to have such a dessert whipped up for him! This seems like a wonderful alternative to the pie.

[Oliver]

Hi Cathy, Your Key Lime Mousse looks great! Especially the lime zests give it a nice touch, thanks for sharing the recipe.

[Cath]

Hi Nic! He's a great friend. I figured since he'd been willing to risk his taste buds on various experiments, the least I could do was make him something yummy that he wanted! :-)

Oliver, thanks for dropping by! It really turned out great -- and the frozen version was wooooooonderful!

[beastmomma]

I clearly need to start making friends who can cook yummy dishes for me on my birthday.

[Cath]

Jaspreet -- let me know when you're in the area on your birthday! ;-)

[Sherri]

Geneve Stewart sent me here ! You write so beautifully and I'm loving this key lime mousse recipe. I made Nigella's key lime pie for Valentine's day and my husband discovered he is in love with key lime pie (as did I), so this will make a great twist.