Strawberry Mousse Domes with Pastry Cream Insert

Name: Strawberry Mousse Domes with Pastry Cream Inserts and Strawberry Coulis
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 5 h 15 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: Hazelnut meal - 50 grams (1/2 cup); All purpose flour - 120 grams (1 cup); Unsalted butter - 75 grams (1/3 cup); Brown sugar - 75 grams (3/4 cup); Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp; Milk - 1 tbsp (if needed); Milk - 500 ml (2 cups); Sugar - 50 grams (1/4 cup); Cornstarch/Cornflour - 4 tbsp; Vanilla bean paste - 1 tsp; Vanilla pastry cream (above)- 1 cup; Strawberries - 2 cups; Sugar - 1/3 cup; Lemon Juice - 1/2 tsp; Gelatin or Agar-Agar - 2 tsp; Water - 2 tbsp; Whipping Cream - 1 cup; Pink gel food color - 1 drop; Strawberries - 1 cup; Water - 2 tbsp; Sugar - 2 tbsp; Clear vanilla - 1/2 tsp (optional)

February 2, 2018 By Veena Azmanov 36 Comments

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Strawberry Mousse Domes – Strawberry Mousse Entremet

These strawberry mousse domes make perfect entremets to serve when you want something elegant and delicious. This simple and easy recipe make a fresh, light and luscious strawberry mousse with a pastry cream insert, served on a hazelnut crust, topped with a dash of strawberry coulis. A great dessert to show off your dessert skills.

Strawberry Mousse Domes, with Pastry Cream Insert and Strawberry Coulis

What do you do when you want to show off your dessert skills. You take something as simple as a strawberry mousse and complicate it with a few more additions!! I’m not joking!

So, if you love desserts you will love this strawberry mousse domes. They are really simple and easy to make. The only problem is that it involves a bit of planning ahead of time and a few others to jaaz it up a bit.

An image showing the vanilla pastry cream insert inside the strawberry mousse dome with the hazelnut cookies crumbled when cut

Strawberry Mousse Domes, Strawberry Entremets, Filled Strawberry mouse domes

Make ahead desserts!!

The good news – all the elements of this dessert can be make ahead of time and then assembled just at the right time. For example

You can make this delicious hazelnut cookie crust ahead of time. Either bake the cookies and save them in a cookie jar for later use or chill the dough until you are ready to bake the cookies.
The vanilla pastry cream domes can be made ahead of time and stored in the freeze – They will last in the freezer at least a week.
The strawberry mousse can be made ahead – just don’t add the gelatin until you are ready to pour into the mold
Strawberry coulis is a treat on it’s own – make head; better yet make more.. it will store in the fridge for a week. They are great to pour on pancake and waffles, desserts and ice creams.

A close up shot of the pretty strawberry mousse dome decorated with a sugar blossom

Strawberry Mousse Domes, Strawberry Entremets, Filled Strawberry mouse domes

Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes – Strawberry Mousse Domes (Save/Pin)

Hazelnut meal – A nut meal is basically just ground nuts. These are available commercially but can be easily made at home in a food processor. I am using hazelnuts here but you could substitute with any other nuts that you love and will pair well with strawberry.
If you make nut meal at home in a food processor -add a little of the sugar or flour from the recipe to keep it dry so the oils that are released from the nuts will not make a paste instead of a meal.
Brown sugar – I love the combination of brown sugar with hazelnuts but you can use the same quantity of white sugar just as well.
Cornstarch – I am making an eggless vanilla pastry cream an so I’m using cornstarch instead of egg yolks. This helps thicken the milk and give us the consistency of pastry cream.
Strawberries – These are in season at the moment so I have used fresh here but frozen works just as well. Having said that the strawberry can also be substituted with other berries such as raspberries or blackberries.
Pink Food Color – The strawberries don’t make the mousse a nice bright pin color as you can see, so I prefer to add a drop of Pink gel food color to enhance it. Feel free to omit the color if you prefer the natural color.

Progress Shot - this is the Strawberry mousse in a pot with a little gel food color.

Strawberry Mousse Domes, Strawberry Entremets, Filled Strawberry mouse domes

Eggless vs Classic Recipe

Today I am keeping this recipe simple and easy, so I have used the eggless vanilla pastry cream as my base. I shared the eggless version in more details in this post here. But you can also use my classic vanilla pastry cream made with egg yolks and you can find the full recipe for that here – Classic Vanilla Pastry Cream. This recipe used agar agar because it’s a vegetarian substitute for gelatin but feel free to use regular gelatin instead.

Front view of the prertty Strawberry mousse Domes with pastry cream inserts garnished with a sugar blossom

Strawberry Mousse Domes, Strawberry Entremets, Filled Strawberry mouse domes

Recipe – Strawberry Mousse Domes with Pastry Cream Inserts and Strawberry Coulis (Save)

For the Hazelnut Cookie Crust

Hazelnut meal – 50 grams (1/2 cup)
All purpose flour – 120 grams (1 cup)
Unsalted butter – 75 grams (1/3 cup)
Brown sugar – 75 grams (3/4 cup)
Vanilla Extract – 1/2 tsp
Milk – 1 tbsp (if needed)

For the Vanilla Pastry Cream

Milk – 500 ml (2 cups)
Sugar – 50 grams (1/4 cup)
Cornstarch/Cornflour – 4 tbsp
Vanilla Bean Paste – 1 tsp

For the Strawberry Mousse

Vanilla pastry cream (above)- 1 cup
Strawberries – 2 cups
Sugar – 1/3 cup
Lemon Juice – 1/2 tsp
Gelatin or agar agar- 2 tsp
Water – 2 tbsp
Whipping Cream – 1 cup
Pink gel food color – 1 drop

For the Strawberry Coli

Strawberries – 1 cup
Water – 2 tbsp
Sugar – 2 tbsp
Clear vanilla – 1/2 tsp (optional)

This is the making of the Strawberry Coulis that needs to be cooked until thick for the strawberry Mousse Dome

Strawberry Mousse Domes, Strawberry Entremets, Filled Strawberry mouse domes

Method

For the Hazelnut Cookie Crust

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add vanilla – combine well
Add hazelnut meal and flour – combine well
If the mixture is still crumbly add milk just enough to foam a dough.
Wrap in cling film and chill until firm
Preheat oven at 180 c / 360 F
Roll into a 1/4 inch thick sheet on a lightly floured surface
Cut cookie disc the same size of the domes (I used 3 inch round cookie cutter)
Place on a baking tray
Bake in a preheated oven for 8 to 10 mins until lightly golden
Cool completely on a cookie rack before you store in an air tight jar.

For the Vanilla Pastry Cream

Combine cold milk, sugar and cornstarch together in a heavy sauce pan
Cook on medium heat until the milk comes to almost boil.
Lower the heat to low and continue to stir until the mixture gets thick and cooks the back of a wooden spoon
Add vanilla and remove from heat.
Pour in a clean bowl wrapped in cling wrap to cool

Prepare the Vanilla Pastry Cream Domes

Use a 1 1/2 inch semi circle dome for the vanilla pastry cream
While still warm or room temperature pour into the domes silicon molds
Smooth the top, cover with cling wrap and place in the freezer until firm.
Save remaining one cup vanilla pastry cream for the strawberry mousse below.

Progress shot of the vanilla pastry cream dome frozen to be inserted in the strawberry mousse dome

Strawberry Mousse Domes with pastry cream inserts and strawberry coulis

For the Strawberry Mousse

Blend the strawberries until smooth
Place strawberries and sugar on medium low heat
Cook until the strawberries cook down to almost half the original volume (1 cup)
Remove from heat – keep warm
Dissolved the gelatin or agar agar in 2 tbsp water – heat in the microwave until dissolved (read notes)
Add gelatin/agar-agar mix to the strawberry mixture – let cool slightly
While still room temperature – strain thru a sieve and set aside.
Add remaining vanilla pastry cream and mix thoroughly
Whip the cream to soft peaks
Gently fold into the strawberry mixture
Add gel food color until well combined.

Progress shot of the making of the strawberry mousse dome showing the pastry cream insert in the strawberry mousse dome.

Strawberry Mousse Domes, Strawberry Entremets, Filled Strawberry mouse domes

Prepare the Strawberry Dome

Use a large 3 inch dome silicon mold
Pour some mousse in the dome
Insert the vanilla pastry cream dome we created above
Shake the mold to help the insert sink in
Top with more strawberry mousse
Use a spatula the level the top and scrape any excess.
Place in the freezer until firm (about 2 to 3 hours)

Progress Shot of the Strawberry Mousse Domes ready to be frozen

Strawberry Mousse Domes, Strawberry Entremets, Filled Strawberry mouse domes

For the Coulis

Blend strawberries until smooth.
Add water, sugar and strawberries in a heavy based sauce pan
Cook on low until the strawberries are cooked completely.
Add the vanilla extract (if using)
Strain thru a sieve
Pour into a clean bowl
Chill in the fridge until completely cold and thick

Assemble

When the strawberry mousse domes are firm
Invert the silicon molds to remove them from the mold
Place each dome on the prepared hazelnut cookie crust
Top with a teaspoon of thick strawberry coulis –
Alternatively you can glaze the whole dome with a pouring consistency strawberry coulis before you place it on the cookie crust.
Garnish with a slice of strawberry or mint leaf.
Let thaw in the fridge for an hour before you serve so the mousse is soft not frozen.
Enjoy!

Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.

Strawberry Mousse Domes with Pastry Cream Insert and Strawberry Coulis

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