Pear mousse cups

Recently I have been experimenting with making mousses for my cakes and other desserts. I had this idea of making chocolates filled with a fluffy fruit mousse, and since pears are in season and I really like them I have decided to make a pear mousse.

The chocolates were good but the mousse didn't stand out from the chocolate and you couldn't even taste the pears. Because I had a lot of leftover mousse I poured the mousse in glasses. I also had some leftover chocolate sponge cake from the chocolate-banana mousse cake.I topped the pear mousse with this leftover sponge and that's how this dessert came to be. I also added some pieces of the fresh pear and toasted walnuts on top for some crunch and the combination of flavors was amazing.

This dessert was even better then my original idea and all I needed to make it was a few leftover ingredients. That's why every time I have a lot of leftovers I try to use them somehow because I hate wasting food and sometimes a really good dessert is created. Putting leftover mousse or cream in a cup and adding some garnishes can make for simple dessert when you do not have time to make something more time consuming.

The garnishes can really make this dessert extra special. I was watching some videos recently about how to make chocolate decorations and I saw how simple it was to make a chocolate leaf. All you need is a leaf (must be edible and not sprayed with pesticides) and chocolate. The chocolate leaf looks great plus it adds some chocolate and texture to the dessert. You can make all kinds of chocolate decorations, I watched this video for my chocolate leaf. You can temper the chocolate so that the decorations hold their shape at room temperature or you can skip the tempering and just use melted chocolate.

Pear mousse cups

(Makes 4-6 cups)

Time:

Preparation: 25min

Baking: 15min

Cooking: 10min

Setting: 1hour

Decoration: 45min

For the pear mousse:

• 3 ripe pears (I used abate pears)
• 2 sheets gelatin (approximately 3 grams)
• 1/2 tea spoon cinnamon
• 3 table spoons brown sugar
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• 1 tea spoon dark rum (optional)
• 1 tea spoon lemon juice
• 200ml whipping cream

For the chocolate sponge:

• 3 eggs
• 90g granulated white sugar
• 70g plain flour
• 1/2 tea spoon baking powder
• 15g cocoa powder
• 20g melted butter
• 15g room temperature heavy cream
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 tea spoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

• 1 ripe pear
• 15g toasted walnuts

For the chocolate leaf:

• 100g dark chocolate
• leafs (edible, not sprayed with pesticides (I used leafs from the rose))

Making the pear mousse:

Soak the gelatin in cold water, set aside. Peel and core the pears and chop them in small pieces, pour over the lemon juice. Place the pear pieces in a pan on medium heat along with the sugar. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, add the vanilla seeds and the pod to the pears, add the cinnamon. When the sugar melts add the dark rum, cook until the pears are soft then remove from heat, remove the vanilla pod. Add the gelatin to the pear mixture. Using a stick blender blend the mixture until smooth. Pour in a bowl and set aside to cool. To speed up the cooling process put the bowl with the mixture in a bowl with cold water. It is important that you cool the pear mixture completely before you incorporate the whipping cream. When the mixture is cool enough, start whipping the cream, whip the cream just until soft peaks form. Fold 1/3 of cream in to the pear mixture. Add the rest of the cream and gently fold in the mixture. When the cream is fully incorporated divide the mixture among plastic cups or glasses. Put them in the fridge for an hour to set. If you are in a hurry you can put them in the freezer for 20 minutes to speed up the setting process.

Making the chocolate sponge:

I used a chocolate sponge I made for the chocolate-banana mousse cake. You can skip making your own chocolate sponge and substitute it with a store bought one. You can also use your favorite cookies or biscuits. Just crumble them up and sprinkle them over the pear mousse.  

Decorations:

Toast the walnuts until slightly brown and set aside to cool. Chop the pear in small pieces and sprinkle over some lemon juice so that the pear does not turn brown. Chop the toasted walnuts.

Chocolate leaf:

If you want to temper the chocolate: 

Chop 75 grams of the chocolate in medium sized pieces, put in the heat-proof bowl and set aside. Chop the remaining 25 grams of the chocolate in tiny pieces and set aside. Put some water in a pot and heat gently to a simmer. Place the bowl with 75 grams chocolate on top of the pot, the water should not touch the bowl. When the chocolate starts to melt, stir and check the temperature. Keep checking the temperature until it reaches 45-48°C (113-118°F). When the chocolate reaches the right temperature take the bowl of the heat and stir in the remaining 25 grams of chocolate. The temperature should drop. Stir the chocolate gently to cool until it reaches 27°C (81°F), this may take a while, depending on the room temperature. When the chocolate is cool enough place the bowl back on the pot of simmering water and heat back to 30-31°C (88-90°F).

Place the leaf on a parchment paper and smear the chocolate over the leaf. Put in a fridge to set. After the chocolate is set peal the leaf of the chocolate.

  

Assembly:

Tear the chocolate sponge in small pieces and place over the pear mousse. Add the chopped pear pieces and top with chopped toasted walnuts. Sprinkle over a little powdered sugar and stick the chocolate leaf into the glass or a cup.