Light Raspberry Surprise Inside Dessert

A light refreshing dessert consisting of a yoghurt mousse filled with raspberry sauce. You can adjust this recipe to make it even lower in sugar if you like.

Like this dessert, my week has been refreshing – one of those rare times when things just seem to fall neatly into place. As I look ahead, I can see multiple additional appointments, meetings and social events in my calendar for the coming weeks. All good things, some exciting things. But each requires time and attention which tend to push the normal tasks later into the night. I love the busy weeks but I also cherish weeks like the one I’ve just had. It gives me more time with my youngest to be a pretend robot, read eight books in a row and kiss his cute little cheeks.

As I was brushing his teeth tonight I thought, these teeth are going to fall out one day. He still has to go to his first day of school, learn maths, ride a bike, grow up, do exams, get married, have kids … growing up is wonderful but, to be honest, I felt exhausted at the thought of having to do all that again. Instead, I want to run forward, press on and enjoy the days ahead. Loving the season we are in.

Raspberry Surprise Dessert makes 8

Pistachio Sponge cake
110g (3.88 ounces) or 1/2 cup sugar
110g (3.88 ounces) or 2/3 cup plus 1tsp plain or all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
30g (1.06 ounces) or 1/4 cup pistachios
50ml or 3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp water
30ml or 2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp oil
2 drops green food colouring
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar or tartaric acid

Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and leave that to one side. Place the egg yolks, oil, pistachios, sugar and water into a blender and blend on high speed until it is smooth.

Tip that into a bowl and add the green food colouring to a shade of your liking. Sift in the flour and the baking powder and fold it into the pistachio mixture.

Whip your egg whites to soft peaks. Mix a spoon of the egg whites into the pistachio mixture. Then fold in half of the remaining egg whites. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites until you can’t see any more streaks of white.

Bake in a tray 356ºF (180ºC) until it springs back when lightly touched, or when you insert a knife into it and it comes out clean.

Once it has cooled find a circle cutter that fits the base of your tins tightly and cut circles of the pistachio sponge cake. Place them into the tin with the top (browned side) down.

Raspberry Sauce
250g (8.82 ounces) or 1 3/4 cup frozen raspberries
60g (2.12 ounces) or 1/2 cup powdered (icing) sugar
juice of one orange

Blend until smooth then push it through a fine sieve. Bring the sauce to a boil and add in the orange juice.

Pour the sauce into one half of a sphere ice cube tray and then place that in the freezer overnight.

Chocolate Crunch Layer
1/4 cup or 21g (0.74 ounces) lightly crushed wafer cones or crepe dentelle
100g (3.53 ounces) white chocolate

Melt some white chocolate and mix in some crepe dentelle or you can use crushed wafers. This will just give a bit of crunch to the dessert. Spread it out onto the baking paper, then add another piece of baking paper on top and flatten it out using a rolling pin.

Place it in the freezer to firm up and then cut out circles smaller than the dessert.

Yoghurt Mousse
300g (10.58 ounces) or 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp yoghurt, I used vanilla flavour but you can use
whatever you like, light or full fat – your choice.
450g (15.87 ounces) or 1 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp and 1 tsp cream
90g (3.17 ounces) or 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp and 1 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tbspn and 1 tsp or around 20g (0.71 ounces) gelatine powder

Let the cream and yoghurt come to room temperature. Add four tablespoons of cream to the gelatine and mix it through immediately. Leave it to soften for a few minutes. Then melt in the microwave on high until it is liquid.

Combine the sugar, cream and yoghurt. Whisk it all together until it is slightly thickened.

With the mixers running add in the gelatine and mix it through really well.

Add 1/4 cup of the yoghurt mousse onto the base of each dessert.

Then add the crispy circle of white chocolate into the middle of each one.

Add a hemisphere of frozen raspberry sauce onto the top of each chocolate disk. Then fill each dessert with more mousse. Place them in the freezer for 1 hour to set.

Decoration
200g (7.05 ounces) extra chocolate
300millilitres (10.14 fluid ounces) cream
pistachios

See the video for demonstration of how to make the chocolate decorations.

Place the dessert onto a plate, pipe on some whipped cream, add a chocolate decoration, two raspberries and a pistachio. Leave it at room temperature for a couple of hours to allow the raspberry sauce to melt.

Resource: howtocookthat