Who can say no to glorious Frozen Caramel Mousse? Book review and recipe.

Caramel - oh yeah!  This recipe has it in spades.  And if you like, you can add a scattering of salt over the top, to give your taste buds a little surprise.  I have mentioned before I really admire Belinda Jeffery.  I love her cookbooks, and she devises wonderfully flavoursome and simple recipes. Never too difficult for the home cook, full of lovely ingredients, and results that speak for themselves.  I received her latest book - Utterly delicious simple food - for Xmas (with a bit of prompting Mr Pickings way!)  Yes, I love it!  Who could possibly resist chocolate crackle and caramel ice cream loaf? Or zucchini lasagne, or blueberry fool or just a delicious potato salad?   There are heaps of recipes I am dying to try here, but I have chosen dulce de leche mousse with caramel sauce for this post.  I will confess at the outset, I have not made it all Belinda's way; yes folks, I have cheated and used canned caramel.  Yes I could spend 3 hours watching over boiling water as I cook up 2 tins of condensed milk to turn into caramel or I could simply buy a couple of cans of caramel.  Guess which I did?  I am still trying not to stand too much as my knee has still not come good, so I am taking the easy way out.  Ok, that's my excuse anyway:)
Belinda calls her recipe - frozen dulce de leche mousse with caramel sauce; I just call mine frozen caramel mousse.


ingredients:

mousse:

2 x 380g. cans of Top N Fill caramel (use any brand)
80ml lemon juice, strained
80ml milk
2-3 tsp vanilla extract
600ml thickened cream
50g, crushed praline (optional)

caramel sauce:

250 ml pure cream
220g brown sugar
75g. caster sugar
60ml maple syrup
90g golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

method:

Spoon the cans of caramel into a large mixing bowl
Stir it with a large spoon to make it a bit smoother
Pour the strained lemon juice into the bowl and stir well
Add the milk and vanilla extract and mix in till smooth
Whip the cream till you have soft peaks
Spoon a small amount of the cream into the caramel and stir it in
Place the remaining cream into the bowl and fold it gently in
You will now have a luscious creamy mousse
You can either spoon it into cups or ramekins, or into lined moulds that you can later turn out
Place in the freezer overnight

Make the sauce by putting all the ingredients into a medium saucepan
Stir over a high heat till the sugar is dissolved
Stop stirring and let it come to the boil
Belinda says to grab a sugar thermometer and bring the sauce to 108C, then take it off the heat and let it cool down for at least 20 minutes - I don't have a sugar thermometer!  I just brought it to the boil and let it boil for a few minutes, taking it off the heat before it overflowed.  It has made a thin sauce, but extremely delicious.

You can go ahead and make the caramel sauce on the same day as the mousse, or make it the next day before serving. I made it the same day, and refrigerated it overnight.  It has now become much thicker and more fudgy.  I recommend making it the day before serving if you don't have a sugar thermometer, as it will give it time to firm up a bit.  I have been tasting it since I made it, and it is very difficult to stop at just a tiny spoonful!  Serve the frozen mousse with the sauce, and the praline if using.  I prefer a softer texture, so suggest taking them out of the freezer about half an hour before serving.

adding lemon juice and vanilla to the caramel 

stirring in the milk

whipped cream about to go in

looking luscious already  

so smooth and creamy!

it made 8 ramekins' worth:)

sauce ingredients

all the good stuff

boiling the sauce 

frozen mousse with fudgy sauce 

The book has beautiful photos that make you want to rush into the kitchen and start cooking then and there.  Recipes are well-written; easy to follow with ingredients listed separately for ease of use. Belinda tends to use ingredients that you are likely to have in your pantry and fridge most of the time. You won't have to rush off to the nearest esoteric deli, or search for items that can only be found once a year at the rise of the blue moon.  Rest assured that Belinda has your back, and you will end up with delicious dishes, full of flavour and interest.