Light Yogurt Mousse with Passion Fruit
Spring has been particularly cold this year and strawberries (I mean the edible ones) are late, so I keep on buying other fruits. A week ago I was thrilled to find exceptionally aromatic and sweet organic passion fruits and then wondered what dessert I could include them in… Finally, I thought the cleaner the flavours, the better. I’m glad I steered away from chocolate and strong tasting ingredients this time because this simple yogurt mousse proved perfect enhancer of the intense flavours of passion fruit. While shopping the following Friday I even didn’t look cravingly at strawberries and headed straight to passion fruits’ corner.
TIPS: I often make several individual portions of my light yogurt mousse-based desserts (see some of them here) and they keep perfectly several days in the fridge. This one is no exception (of course passion fruit should be added just before you eat).
Whatever the form of gelatin, it’s always indicated how much you need in order to set a certain amount of liquid. I don’t want to obtain here a stiff jelly-like texture, but something similar to a mousse, so I always check the advised amount and use only about 3/4 of it.
For the first time I used here only full-fat natural yogurt, but the following time I wanted it richer/creamier, so I reduced the amount of yogurt (see below) and added a bit of cream (mine was half-fat). It was just heavenly and still remained a light dessert.
Instead of normal full fat yogurt you can use here Greek yogurt or very smooth (mixed) fresh cheese/curd cheese/quark/, also called fromage frais/serek homogenizowany)
Ripe passion fruits have wrinkled skin (I learnt it very recently!), but if you buy smooth ones, you can put them at room temperature and wait until they ripen. Afterwards keep them in the fridge.
Preparation: 5 minutes+at least 2 hours in the fridge
Ingredients (serves 4-5):
500 ml (about 17 fl oz) unsweetened full-fat yogurt (or see the TIPS above) or, if you want this dessert richer and creamier: 450 ml yogurt+50 ml cream
3/4 of the amount of gelatin necessary to set 500ml/17fl oz of liquid (usually 1 tablespoon gelatin or 6 – 8 sheets, depending on the size/brand, so check well the package and reduce the amount to about 3/4, see the TIPS above)+4 tablespoons warm water (I prefer to use hot water with powdered gelatin)
4 flat tablespoons confectioner’s sugar or sweetener of your choice
4-5 passion fruits (or more, depends on the size; I count 1 big per person or 1 and half of smaller ones)
Dissolve the gelatin in 4 tablespoons warm or hot (not boiling) water. (If using leaves, proceed as indicated on the package). (I’ve recently stumbled upon instant gelatin powder which can be added directly to any creamy mixture or liquid without previous dissolving, so check well the procedure on the package.)
Mix the yogurt (or fresh cheese) and the sweetener/sugar in a food processor.
Add the dissolved gelatin and mix well.
Pour the yogurt mixture into individual bowls or glasses and put into the fridge for at least two hours.
Just before serving, cut the passion fruits in two and scoop out the flesh on top of each mousse.
Looks nice and light and delicious. I’ve not found fresh passion fruit but I have a jar of passion fruit jelly. 🙂
Thank you, A_Boleyn. It’s strange, but I find passion fruits here all year round in normal supermarkets (they are almost as frequent as bananas!), so I assumed they are exported this way everywhere…. Passion fruit jelly would be a nice replacement, I think.
We’ve had a cold spring (relatively speaking) too. And our winter was also cool and, blessedly, rainy. Our strawberries are later but now available more and more. It’s funny, I’ve really noticed a difference taste wise buying organic berries. I don’t know whether I have just had ‘bad luck’ with the conventional fruit but organic berries are spectacular in their taste (at least in my experience). I know exactly what you mean about not spoiling the taste of a delicate service like this with chocolate. As much as I love choco, the exquisite combination of flavors you have gathered here deserve to be enjoyed in their pure form. I love desserts of this nature – your passion fruit (though different tasting of course) reminds me a great deal of another favorite combination of mine pomegranate and kefir mousse. Tart, tangy, gentle sweetness…x.
Hi, Kelly. There are certain fruits which have a similar taste (bananas for example) but sometimes pineapples, mandarines or berries are so amazing… Actually the best organic fruit experience I had comparing to the standard version were litchis: very expensive, but awesome.
From my experience honest (i.e. moderately spraying and caring for taste) local fruit producers sell sometimes great strawberries too, but I buy at the farmers’ market only from those I know for quality (some have nearby farms, but their produce tastes like imported stuff from a supermarket, which is at least 3x cheaper…).
Strangely, I find French and Swiss strawberries at least 10 x worse in terms of taste compared to Polish or German strawberries (and I don’t even talk about organic ones!). I wonder if it’s the colder climate and slower ripening process or the varieties…
This dessert sounds lovely and light. I’ve not seen any passionfruit since we’ve moved to Florida…I must inquire if the markets ever have them.
Thanks a lot, Karen.
So far I think we’ve had 3 days this spring that feel like spring. Today was one of them and I would have loved one of these yogurts! Creamy desserts are my favorite and I love the way you use yogurts because you get that sweet and sour flavor. The touch of fruit on top is perfect! It’s hard to find passion fruit around here, but we’ve been getting some gorgeous organic strawberries which would worked great here.
Have a wonderful week Sissi!
Thanks a lot, MJ. Any fruit would be perfect! Even those that cannot be included in gelatin-based desserts (kiwi or pineapple). We still have tasteless strawberries here… I’m losing my patience with weather this year. Today I had to wear a wool cardigan during the day (usually it’s hot enough here to have sun tan in May!).
We had to turn the heat back on today!!!! UGH!!!!
The heating in our building hasn’t stopped this spring even for a single day! Really weird, this year…
It is summer here already and I cannot think of a better dessert than these light yogurt treats!
Thank you so much, Katerina. Lucky you!
Don’t get me started on our in-Spring-like weather! It’s been brutally cold, even had snow on Sunday! Hoping for a warm and sunny summer, this dessert will be refreshing, delicious and easy to prepare. Surprisingly, strawberries were pretty tasty this spring (usually from California or Mexico this time of year), but they have been enormous; I prefer Ontario strawberries as they are small but with our cold weather, we likely won’t have local strawberries for more than a month.
Hi, Eva. Ok, so I stop complaining; here we didn’t have snow at least (though the temperatures were so low I covered my tiny seedlings with plastic hoods for the night…). I also prefer small strawberries. They have more taste! I hope you will have sun and warm temperatures very soon.