Omg. This mousse is divine!  And I think it’s most defining feature is that it’s eggless — so no consuming raw eggs (although I confess to regularly trying the cookie dough) or any fiddling about with beating until “soft peaks” form.  The secret to this mousse is that it uses cream cheese and whipped cream to achieve it’s smooth creaminess and lightness.  This recipe was adapted from a version I found on one of my favourite blogs, Closet Cooking.  Kevin there adapted it from a recipe from the Dairy Farmers of Canada — which explains the prominent use of dairy products in the recipe.

In Kevin’s version, he used dark chocolate and added a splash of orange liqueur and orange zest.  I decided to opt for the ever delightful raspberry and white chocolate flavour combination.  However, I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are two mousses in the photo, and one is most definitely not white chocolate.  This is because this past Monday, I taught a baking class for the Fine Chocolate Society (well, er, I am the president of the ChocSoc :) ).  I aimed to to include a variety of recipes that could be dressed up for a sophisticated meal or whipped up in a jiffy to take along to a bakesale etc.  I wanted to include a mousse as it is a very elegant dessert, however, I just had to test out the recipe before I taught it (I know, I know… such a hard life, isn’t it?).

To be honest, the mousse was delicious both made with white and dark chocolate.  However, the white chocolate came out on top for two reasons. Firstly, I think it complemented the raspberries better.  It was creamy and delicate with a lovely hint of vanilla.  If I make it with dark chocolate, I’d be be tempted to pair with a more robust flavour (maybe with a hint of mint extract and a few crumbled peppermint patties on top?).  It was also more unusual… the rest of the recipes in the class included chocolate and I wanted to include one that highlighted white chocolate.

There aren’t any raspberries to garnish the mousse in the photo.  However, for the class I crowned each of the wee mousses with a raspberry. It’s a small touch, but it really makes a difference in terms of presentation.

One of my committee members snapped a few shots of the baking class. I’ll be doing a post about it when I get the photos.  :)

So, without any further ado…

White Chocolate & Raspberry Mousse

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
225g white chocolate (cut into small pieces)
200g ounces full flat cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1 tsp vanilla
250mL/1 cup whipping/double cream

raspberry jam/conserve

fresh raspberries

Directions:
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and set aside.
2. Beat the cream cheese, chocolate, and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks.
4. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese in two batches.

5. Spoon a tablespoon of raspberry jam/conserve into the bottom of the container that you will serve the mousse in.
5. Pour the mixture into the containers that you will server it in and chill in the fridge for at least two hours.  Top with fresh raspberries before serving.