Sublime Summer Mousse

It takes a lot to have me run toward a dessert dish. Part of the reason that I'm not the biggest dessert fan is that too many desserts are over sugared and under flavoured. I've been disappointed so many times. Many times the flavouring is artificial and a taste zings me right back to childhood when I had to take banana/mint/cherry medicine. I am a fan of pure flavours that are discretely sweetened and enhanced. That said, give me a well made dessert and I'm joining the race.

This lime mousse is definitely a cake that has me at the front of the dessert line. Lime cake was a request from my son for his birthday so I adapted one of the recipes from the Epicurious website. The result was a 10 for creamy texture and jumping flavour.

Creamy and cloud light with flecks of green lime zest.... If your limes are small, buy at least 6 for the zest and juice. This makes an incredibly generous amount of filling. Choose your bowls well when you decide to make it! At the end there are two lickable bowls and one lickable saucepan. Perfect for a family with three children.

Sublime Summer Mousse Cake
Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs 250 mL
2 tablespoons sugar 30 mL
5 tablespoons butter, melted 75 mL
Parchment paper

Filling
8 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 120 mL
1 tablespoon unflavoured gelatin, 15 mL
2 & 1/2 cups heavy cream (whipping cream 35% MF) 625 mL
9 ounces pure white chocolate 250 gr
3 - 8 ounce packages of light cream cheese at room temperature, 600 gr
1 cup sugar, 250 mL (not fat free)
2 tablespoons finely grated lime peel

Crust
Cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom of the springform pan. Thoroughly combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a springform pan. Cook for 5 minutes at 325 degrees F oven (165 C). Set aside to cool.

Filling
Little Bowl: Wash limes to remove any coating on the outside. Grate the lime but not the white pith underneath the skin as it is bitter. Squeeze the limes and put 8 tablespoons of lime juice in a bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over top of the lime juice and allow it to absorb the juice and become transparent.

Saucepan: Heat 1/2 cup cream in a saucepan to a low simmer. Really tiny bubbles will appear at the edges and a skin will begin to form. The surface of the cream will appear to ripple ever so slightly. Add the pieces of white chocolate and stir well to dissolve. Once thoroughly mixed, add the gelatin/juice mixture and stir until the gelatin dissolves and the mixture is completely smooth. Let this mixture cool slightly as you will be adding it to the cream cheese mixture.

Big Bowl: While the white chocolate/gelatin mixture is cooling, beat together the lime zest, 1 cup of sugar and the cream cheese until thoroughly combined. It will be light. Drizzle cooled white chocolate mixture into the cream cheese mixture.

Medium Bowl: In a clean bowl whip the two cups of cream until it forms peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the white chocolate/cream cheese mixture.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Keep refrigerated until just before serving.

Makes 12 to 14 servings.
Make Ahead: since the filling makes a generous amount, I froze some filling in ramekins. The texture and taste held up beautifully when eaten frozen (yeah, yeah, I couldn't wait). Even if you wait for it to thaw in the fridge - it's fantastic!

The original cake is at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/103648