HHDD#11: yogurt mousse

Raspberry and brandy sauce
featuring in
Yogurt mousse & raspberry sauce tiramisu
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When it comes to desserts, I must confess I used to have a bit of a reputation. For me, making a dessert was like buying a lottery ticket: I knew I could win, but then I didn't. That was until we moved to Italy and Husband, who is very fussy about food, could not find anything palatable enough for his breakfast, and being the devoted wife I am, I began my quest for Husband's perfect breakfast treat and, alas, started baking cakes. As things go, the more I baked, the better I got and after several disappointing attempts, I finally cracked it and those it's-not-bad-but-I-am-not-gonna-eat-a-second-slice-of-that kind of cakes became a distant memory. Fortified by these humble successes I ventured out into the infinite universe of dessert making and although I am still an 'absolute beginner' I sure am enjoying the ride (my waist line a little bit less...).

When I saw that this month's HHDD theme was mousse, hosted by the lovely Tartelette, quite naturally a sweet mousse sprang to mind and considering the early summer we are having I decided to go for a bikini-friendly yogurt mousse.

Did I say bikini-friendly? yeah, right. It could have almost been if I didn't finish it off with mascarpone and turned it into a summery-looking tiramisu with a salted pistachio sponge base and a nice thick layer of raspberry sauce. I am a sucker for all kind of berries. Be it their colour or flavour (actually, both), they can make even the plainest dessert look and taste great and for me raspberry sauce is simply the thing! Ooze it on pancakes or ice-creams, spread it on your favourite pastry case or mix it with ricotta or mascarpone (or yogurt mousse!) and it will never fail you!

For the raspberry and brandy sauce you will need:

450g raspberry (fresh or frozen)

200ml brandy (optional, or reduce the quantity according to your taste)

Sugar

1. Wash and dry the raspberries, if using fresh ones, or defrost them if using the frozen ones.

2. In a pot, mash the fruit and cook it for about 5 minutes until soft.

3. Transfer the hot mixture to a fine strainer (line your strainer with muslin if not fine enough) and collect the juice in a clean bowl. When cool, add the brandy and weight the mixture.

4. In a large pot, add the same weight in sugar to the berry mixture, heat it on a low heat (to allow the sugar melt completely) and boil gently for about 1 minute. Skim and pour the sauce into clean bottles and seal them.

5. When the sauce has cooled down completely, arrange the bottles in a large pot, cover with cold water and boil for about 15 minutes. Wait until the water is completely cold before removing the bottles.

6. Store in a cool and dark place.

For the sponge cake you will need:
125g plain yogurt
200g self raising flour
100g corn starch
2 tspoons baking powder
3 eggs
125g peanut oil (or melted butter)
125g caster sugar
100g salted pistachios

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180-200°C. Grease a cake tin (I used a 20cm loose-bottom round cake tin)
2. Mix all ingredients (if the mixture is too sticky, add few spoonfuls of milk).
3. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 40 minutes. Insert a wooden skewer in the cake and if it comes out clean the cake is ready, if not bake for another 10 minutes and check again.
4. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before taking it out of the tin.

For the yogurt mousse you will need:
100g mascarpone
200g yogurt (low fat, full-fat or Greek ...depending how guilty you feel)
3 yolks
3 egg whites
2 heaped tbspoons of super fine sugar

1. Mix the mascarpone, yogurt, sugar and egg yolks together.
2. Beat the egg whites until firm and fold them gently in the yoghurt-mascarpone mixture.
3. Leave it in the fridge at least two hours to settle.

To assemble the tiramisu (quantities are for about 6 individual glasses):

1. Line the base of each glass with a 1cm thick slice of the sponge cake (you can drizzle the sponge cake with some brandy, but the raspberry sauce should sink into it quite nicely).

2. Add a layer of raspberry sauce and transfer to the freezer for at least two hours.

3. Add a thick layer of mousse and transfer again to the freezer for two hours.

4. Finish the last layer with crashed pistachios or more raspberry sauce.

5. Transfer to the fridge an hour before eating and decorate with fresh rasberries.