Looking for a dessert to impress? This Strawberry Mousse is a great make ahead dessert perfect for summer entertaining. Simple, yet elegant, and filled with fresh flavors!
Just because it looks fancy doesn’t mean it is complicated! Looking for more easy impressive desserts? Try this Butterscotch Budino or Rice Pudding with Salted Caramel and Raspberries.
I’ve had a thing for Mousse since I was a kid. It’s not a dessert we had often (at all!) but I remember my first time trying chocolate mousse at a restaurant and from then on I was hooked.
And while I do love chocolate mousse, this Strawberry Mousse recipe is even better – especially when the strawberries and nice and juicy. This is the perfect summertime dessert!
You get a light and creamy mousse with a sauce made from even more strawberries. I like to add a bit of rum extract to give it that strawberry daiquiri vibe.
Then take it over the top with some freshly whipped cream – you’ll have a dessert that is worthy of company but is really oh, so easy to make!
Ingredients
- Water: You’ll want cold water. This is for softening and dissolving the gelatin.
- Unflavored Gelatin: This is pretty easy to find at most grocery stores. Look in the baking aisle, by the boxes of Jello. It will usually come in a box of little packets (see the photo above for reference). You’ll just need one of those small envelopes.
- Strawberries: Lots of fresh strawberries! You’ll need a total of 2 pints – 1 1/2 for the mousse, and the other 1/2 pint for the sauce.
- Sugar: You need both granulated sugar and powdered sugar. The granulated sugar will go in the mousse and the sauce. The powdered sugar is for the whipped cream for the mousse.
- Lemon Zest: Depending on how much lemon flavor you want, you’ll need the zest from about 1 lemon. Part for the mousse and part for the sauce.
- Cream: Look for heavy whipping cream.
- Cornstarch: The cornstarch is for thickening the sauce.
- Extract: Like I said above, I like to use a little rum extract, but you could easily sub in vanilla extract.
How to Make Strawberry Mousse
Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let it sit for a minute to soften and bloom, then cook over low heat, stirring often, until the gelatin has dissolved.
Combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon zest, and gelatin mixture in a blender or food processor.
Process the mixture until completely blended.
Pour the strawberry puree mixture into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for an hour.
Whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar until you have soft peaks.
Fold the cream into the strawberry mixture. I like to start with about 1/4 of the cream and just stir this in. It will lighten the mixture. Then you can fold in the remaining cream with a rubber spatula. Put this back in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best.
How to Make the Strawberry Sauce
Combine the berries, sugar, and lemon zest in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Pour this into a clean saucepan. Whisk in the cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Refrigerate this sauce until needed.
Assembling the Mousse
To serve, spoon some of the sauce into the bottom of a serving dish, then top that with mousse. If you want, you can add more sauce to the top, then top it all off with fresh sweetened whipped cream. I like to add a little bit of lemon zest to the top, as well!
Tips and Tricks
This makes 4 pretty decent sized portions. They were too big for most of my kids. So feel free to make them smaller and make it stretch to more servings.
I like to use jars for serving, but any type of glass should work.
If you don’t want to make the strawberry sauce, this mousse is actually quite good on its own!
Make Ahead and Storing
This is a great make ahead dessert! The mousse needs to sit for at least 2 hours to set up, but overnight is best. So this is great to make the night before.
I would still suggest waiting to assemble until right before serving, but you could get away with assembling them a couple of hours before and keeping them in the refrigerator until they are needed.
Leftovers need to be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator. I would try to eat them within a couple of days, though.
More Strawberry Desserts
Strawberry Tart
Strawberry Cream Angel Pie
Strawberry Milkshake Ice Cream Cake
Strawberry Lime Shortcakes with Coconut Cream
Strawberry Cream Floats
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Strawberry Mousse
Ingredients
Mousse:
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 package (2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
- 1 1/2 pints strawberries hulled and sliced
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Zest from 1/2 lemon
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Sauce:
- 1/2 pint strawberries hulled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Zest from 1/2 lemon
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
- Sweetened whipped cream for serving
Instructions
- Place the water in a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Let the mixture sit for 1 minute to soften. Turn the heat to low and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Remove from the heat.
- Put the berries, sugar, lemon zest, and gelatin mixture in a food processor or blender and puree. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for about an hour.
- In another large bowl, whip the cream until it starts to thicken, then beat in the powdered sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Stir 1/4 of the cream into the strawberry mixture, then gently fold in the remaining cream. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- To make the sauce, combine the berries, sugar, and lemon zest in a food processor or blender and puree. Pour this mixture into a saucepan and whisk in the cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the extract. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until cooled.
- To serve, add some of the strawberry sauce to the bottom of a serving dish, then top with some of the mousse and more sauce, if desired. Top with whipped cream and serve cold.
Jasmine says
I tried your mousse for Mother’s day and it was a big success! Although it wasn’t as “mousse” as I would have liked and looked more like a thick sauce. I think I didn’t use enough gelatine. I’m gonna have to try it again! Thanks for the recipe.
Culinarily Curious says
A beautiful simple summer dessert. Thank you for sharing!
Lis says
That looks like a really refreshing mousse – like the perfect kind to make for after a BBQ in the summer.. so yeah, that’s exactly what I’ll do! =)
Kristen says
Yummy!
Cheryl says
Love the daiquiri sauce. Makes me want to stick my finger through the screen.
Arfi Binsted says
I feel fresh reading your recipe. It looks so ‘not-so-guilty’.
Shawnda says
I love the originality of the recipe – who doesn’t love a strawberry daiquiri… For dessert 🙂
joey says
This is perfect for summer! 🙂
Helene says
Looks great! Don’t forget to email it to me!
Brilynn says
It seems like the list of food blogs that I follow grows longer everyday, and so does my “to-make” pile of recipes. Add this one to the list, it looks super!
Kristen says
Delicious!
Lynnylu says
Looks great!