Rhubarb Mousse

Today, June 6, is Sweden's National Day! We don't celebrate in any way - in fact, we're spending the whole day cleaning out the attic! Admittedly not the best of days for this, as it's incredibly warm and sunny, but we feel very good about it.

And speaking of good... I made this rhubarb mousse for friends a few days ago, and it was absolutely great! It comes from a new cookbook called Håkan Larsson's Vin och Fest (which means Wine and Feasts) which is a collection of different menus from the magazine Allt om Vin. (All about wine.) All menus sound very nice, and are indeed great for parties - maybe not so much for every day. The book itself is really quite fun to read, as the author has a nice, personal style, and also gives wine recommendations for each dish. Perfect! All in all - I recommend it. Not as much as recommend this particular mousse though - you *have* to make this!



This recipe has three steps, and while it doesn't require a whole lot of active time, it will still take you a day to get everything cooled - so start in the morning. You start by making a rhubarb syrup, then the mousse and finally the jelly.

I've made some minor changes - and it might be good to know that if you don't get enough rhubarb syrup from the first step, you can use a good quality rhubarb cordial as well. In fact, I have a cordial that's so good - from Brunneby - that I think I'll try this recipe just using that next time. I think it will work quite nicely!

The book suggested making a white chocolate sorbet with this, but I felt lazy and grated some white chocolate on top instead. It was brilliant - a really good match. (I will make the sorbet some time as it sounds lovely!)

Rhubarb Mousse
Serves 4

Rhubarb Syrup:
400 g rhubarb
200 g sugar
250 ml water

Rhubarb Mousse:
100 ml rhubarb syrup
1,5 gelatine leaves
2 egg yolks
60 g sugar
300 ml cream (35-40% fat)

Rhubarb Jelly:
200 ml rhubarb syrup
1,5 gelatine leaves

For the syrup, cut the rhubarb into small pieces and boil with water and sugar for 10 minutes. Purée everything using a handheld mixer or a blender, and sieve through a coffee filter. (I used a regular metal sieve at first, but it allowed some of the fruit to pass through and that made the syrup cloudy.) This will take a while - you should count on leaving it for a few hours.

Mousse: Soak the gelatine in cold water for five minutes. Whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until fluffy and pale. Gently heat the rhubarb syrup, and add the gelatine. Stir until dissolved. Mix this with the sugar and eggs, and leave to cool to room temperature. Whisk the cream until it forms stiff peaks, and fold into the rhubarb mixture. Pour into glasses or bowls, and place in the fridge to set.

Jelly: Soak the gelatine in cold water for five minutes. Gently heat the rhubarb syrup, and add the gelatine. Stir until dissolved. Leave to cool to room temperature, then gently pour over the set mousse. Place in the fridge to set.

Recipe in Swedish:
Rabarbermousse