Frozen Honey Mousse

Jeff the Chef

♣

This recipe comes from Mark Bittman’s ‘How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.’ Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2007; pg. 900, but all opinions expressed are those of a carnivore.

♣

"Frozen Honey Mousse," from Make It Like a Man!

This Frozen Honey Mousse is delicately and quite simply honey-and-cream-flavored. If you happen to have a special, nuanced, artisanal honey, this is a great way to show it off. I used one that had been aged in whiskey barrels by Iron Fish, a farm distillery in the Sleeping Bear region of northwest Michigan. As mousses go, this one is positively light – almost weightless – but still luscious. It’s like having a dream about a mousse.

Makes 6-8 servings[a]
Takes 20 minutes, plus time to chill (for you and it)

4 egg whites
⅓ cup honey
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
1½ cups cream

  1. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks, speed 10 (of 10), about 50 seconds. Beat in the honey and half the confectioners’ sugar to stiff peaks, 3 or 4 more minutes. (The honey will keep the meringue on the softer side of stiff peaks). Set aside.[b] Beat the cream with the remaining sugar to medium peaks, ramping up to speed 8 for about 1½ minutes, and then finishing it off for a few seconds on speed 10.
  2. Fold the cream into the whites. Transfer the mousse to individual cups (individual servings are quicker to chill) or into one dish, cover with plastic, and freeze[c,d] until firm, 2 to 3 hours.[e] Serve within a few hours.[f]


"Iron Fish Honey," from Make It Like a Man! Frozen Honey Mousse

Notes:

This is an excellent recipe for a cooking newbie, because it involves essential-but-not-difficult skills such as separating eggs, whipping whites and cream, and folding. The result is mind-blowing, worth it, and exotic enough to impress your friends.

  1. Dividing this into six produces servings that, although not obscenely large, are still pretty damn big. In fact, it produces servings that I’d be delighted to share at the end of a romantic dinner for two. It’s so rich, so special, and so delicate, that you could extract 12-18 servings from this recipe that might look small at first glance, but would turn out to be completely satisfying, especially after a serious meal.
  2. If you use a rubber spatula to move the whipped whites to another bowl, it’s unnecessary to clean the mixing bowl or beater to whip the cream.
  3. In the book, Bittman suggests that you can eat the mousse as soon as it’s made, even though he recommends freezing it. He didn’t have to tell me twice! Of course I ate at least one serving of it right out of the mixing bowl, and I could hardly stop myself. As orgasmic as that was, however, just-made, it’s so light that it’s difficult to perceive it as a mousse. Still, it’s sexy as all get-out.
  4. Bittman also says that if unfrozen, it will eventually begin to seep. I tested that, and it’s true … but it takes a considerable amount of time. I left a serving in the fridge for a solid twelve hours; it was just starting to show signs of seepage, which had degraded its texture slightly.
  5. A couple hour’s worth of freezing doesn’t do what you’d expect. It sets it, and crosses it over into mousse territory. It won’t get hard like ice cream.
  6. So, maybe it won’t harden like ice cream, but eventually (say, in maybe 18-24 hours) parts of it will freeze, while other parts of will remain soft, creating an uneven texture, which is undesirable. Plus, in this state, it’s harder to taste the honey. Why it doesn’t freeze into a solid mass is some science I’d be interested in finding out about. In any case, it’s at its absolute best if you keep it in the sweet spot between room temperature and freezing, so that it winds up with a texture that’s thicker than it is at room temperature, and yet still homogenous. The all-knowing Bittman nails it at the 2-3 hour mark. Fours hours is still going to be fine. And we’re talking shades of excellence here; it’s not going to be ruined at five or six hours.

"Frozen Honey Mousse," from Make It Like a Man!

Frozen Honey Mousse

Although “Frozen Honey Mousse” sounds like the name of an all-girl, nu metal band from Calgary, it’s nothing like that at all. It’s far more Zen.

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Keyworded with Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything: Bittman didn’t hit us up, no hard-rock Canadian girls talked us into it … Iron Fish did not offer us a bottle of their stout-cask-finished bourbon whiskey to mention them in this post, although God knows we would’ve accepted one!

Keep up with us on Bloglovin’


Large Blog Image

Honey Wheat Hazelnut Bread with Poppy Seeds and Lemon
White on White Cake

47 thoughts on “Frozen Honey Mousse”

  2. I’m not a cooking newbie by a long shot but I would enjoy making and eating your mousse. I thought I had a nice assortment of honey until you told me about this barrel aged whisky honey – I will have to look into it. From Michigan too!

    Reply

    • I love honey, and I especially love interesting types. If I come across another, I’ll let you know.

      Reply

    • The honey? Oh, that is a bummer! I knew the supply was limited. I guess I’d better save the half-bottle I have left for something ever special. OK, insider tip: they make a bourbon-aged maple syrup that’s even better than the honey, and it appears they’ve still got that in stock. I’ll be posting about it.

      Reply

    • I completely agree. It’s not stable in the long term, though, unless frozen. Although perhaps it could be modified to be.

      Reply

  7. Those artisanal honeys have really taken off lately! We have a fancy-pants honey place (that’s what I call it) up in Saratoga Springs (~15 minutes away), and we occasionally go in there. It’s fun to try the different varieties of honey side-by-side. I’m not sure I’ve ever tried whiskey barrel-aged honey, though. That sounds like a must! And this dessert sounds like it needs to happen…yesterday. So light and airy!
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Swirled Cinnamon Bread

    Reply

    • Yes, it does! It’s way in the background, but it gives it a kind of subtle intrigue.

      Reply

  11. I’ve never had a frozen mousse and I’m loving how easy it is to make! How perfect would this be to use in place of whipped cream on top of Thanksgiving pumpkin pie? Like a frozen whipped cream!!

    Reply

    • I think it would! In that case, though, I wouldn’t bother freezing it. The room-temperature texture would be perfect in that context.

      Reply

  12. Fakkkk! I would hang out in my freezer with this sexy hunk of YUM – NO PROBLEM. I wouldn’t even bring a coat, that’s how much I wanna chow it DOWN!

    Reply

  17. Hi Jeff – I love what you did here. What a fantastic mousse and great notes/instruction on temps. Really great stuff here, wish I had a spoon and a bowlful right now!
    allie recently posted…Maple Pumpkin Bisque

    Reply

  18. This was fantastic!! It was my first time making a mousse and was huge hit- I’m a serious chocolate lover and found this to be wonderfully decadent – a keeper!

    Reply

  21. What an intriguing recipe – I love the idea of making this to showcase a unique type of honey! I’m always eager to try different honeys, but sometimes it seems like a waste to just use it in salad dressings, strong flavored teas, etc. Looking forward to trying this!
    CakePants recently posted…Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins

    Reply

  23. honey is my favorite sweet thing. i usually add honey instead of sugar in tea. this frozen honey mousse looks so foamy ice cream. i wonder is it ice frozen or just like a normal frozen like ice creams?

    Reply

    • I love honey in tea, too. This mousse isn’t the slightest bit icy. It’s creamy, like ice cream. But it’s nowhere near as dense as ice cream – much lighter.

      Reply

  24. This recipe is very simple and includes less ingredients 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Website

CommentLuv badge