Easy Peppermint Mousse

5 from 2 votes

This Easy Peppermint Mousse is the perfect festive dessert. So simple to make, egg-free, gluten free but packed with white chocolate and mint flavour. Dress it up with candy-cane-rimmed glasses or serve it family-style in one big bowl, either way, it's sure to disappear!

Prep Time20

Cook Time3

Chilling Time1 30

Total Time1 53

Servings: half-cup servings

Calories: 546kcal

Author: Natalie | Sweetness & Bite

Ingredients

For the Mousse

500 mls whipping cream (see notes)
300 g good quality white chocolate
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract*

For the Peppermint Rimmed Glasses

150 g white chocolate
3-4 candy canes OR
[Wilton Peppermint Crunch sprinkles]

Instructions

For the Mousse:

Chop the white chocolate and place it in a large heaproof bowl.
Heat half of the cream in a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat until bubbles begin to form around the edges.
When the cream has just come to the boil, pour it over the chocolate. Leave for a few minutes for the chocolate to start to melt, then whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
Stir in the remaining half of the cream. (Adding this cold cream helps cool the mixture down faster).
Whisk in the peppermint extract, and taste the mixture. Add more extract if necessary.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the mixture until it is very cold. This can be done in either the fridge or freezer.
Fridge - refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Freezer - place in the freezer for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes to make sure it doesn't freeze around the edges.
Chilling overnight in the fridge is preferred, for the best results, but I know sometimes we just want mousse in a hurry, so the freezer option is there if you need it.
If you're adding the peppermint rims to the glasses, now's a good time to prepare them - see the instructions for that below.
Once the mousse mixture is fully chilled, whip it with an electric hand mixer just until stiff peaks form. Be very careful not to over-whip or the mousse will become grainy.
Spoon or pipe into serving glasses. If it seems like it's still a little too soft to pipe, you can refrigerate the bowl of mousse again for 10 minutes or so until it firms up some more.
Serve the mousse immediately, or chill for 30 minutes for a firmer mousse.
The mousse will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge. Cover each individual serving glass or bowl with plastic wrap, or place all of them into a large airtight container.
If you're using the peppermint-rimmed glasses, make sure you serve the mousse within 2-3 hours, as the candy canes will start to dissolve after a while in the fridge.
The unwhipped mousse mixture will keep, covered, in the fridge for 1-2 days.

For the Peppermint Rimmed Glasses

Gently melt the compound chocolate in a heatproof bowl or jug in the microwave on medium-low power. Heat in short bursts and stir often until melted.
If the chocolate seems very thick, you can stir in half a teaspoon or so of shortening or unflavoured oil to thin it out a bit.
Crush the candy canes in a small plastic bag and place in a shallow bowl. If using the peppermint crunch sprinkles just put 1/4 - 1/3 cup of the sprinkles in the bowl.
Carefully dip the rims of the glasses into the chocolate. Aim to dip about 1/2cm or 1/4".
Dip the chocolate covered rim into the crushed candy canes or sprinkles.
Carefully shake off any excess, then turn upright and leave to set.

Video

Notes

*Peppermint Extract: Extracts can vary greatly in intensity. I recommend starting with a small amount, giving it a taste and adding more if necessary. I used 1/4 teaspoon of Lorann peppermint oil.

Cream - The cream needed for this recipe is known by different names in different countries. Here in NZ, it’s usually called standard cream or whipping cream, in other countries, it could also be known as full cream, heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. Double cream is generally too thick for this recipe it contains a lot more fat (although the fat content can vary by country.) Long story short: for best results, choose a pourable cream that is around 35% fat. Make sure that it says on the bottle/carton that it is suitable for whipping.

Chocolate: Use good quality white chocolate for the mousse, as it has the best flavour and texture. But for the glass rims, compound chocolate (chocolate melts) work best as they set quickly and don't need to be tempered.

Serving: I also like to serve the mousse in one big bowl with a layer of dark chocolate ganache on top. To do this, just gently melt around 100g of dark chocolate with 150 ml of cream, let it cool slightly and pour it over the whipped mousse. If you want to serve the mousse in individual glasses and top it with the ganache, you may need to double or triple the amount to make sure you have enough for each glass.

Nutrition

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