Strawberry Souffles with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate*UPDATED*

Why have tired, old cake and ice-cream when you can have souffle and mousse?

The birthday surprise seems to have been a big hit. Unfortunately, the pictures really didn't come out very well, so I'll just have to entice you with the recipe.

First, I'd like to thank a couple blogs for the recipes and inspiration I used to come up with this dessert. Earlier this month, Kevin at Closet Cooking posted a delicious-looking strawberry souffle that I knew I just had to make. With all the delicious, local strawberries we were getting from the CSA and other local farms, I knew it would be good. When my sister's birthday approached, it seemed like the perfect fit

. Kevin's recipe for strawberry souffle was very simple -- but it only served 4 and I wanted to be able to serve at least 6. So, I went to the Joy of Cooking to read up on souffles (I've only made one in my life, a few years ago). The book didn't have a recipe for a souffle with strawberries, but I adjusted the quantities and some of the ingredients based upon what I read there. 

I've been watching Joanne Weir lately, and she featured cooking classes on making souffles and mousse, so the thought to combine the souffle with a mousse probably had a genesis there. I did a Food Blog Search for "strawberry mousse" and stumbled upon a sweet little blog called Tartelette. There, I found a recipe for Pistachio and Strawberry Mousse Mille Feuilles. I just extracted the strawberry mousse part from the too-cute recipe (and I mean "too cute" in a nice way!). This mousse was very light, more like a flavored whipped cream -- which made it perfect for this dessert. And can I just say that mascarpone cheese is one of my new favorite things? Yes! So light and smooth -- nothing like its usual substitutes, cream cheese or ricotta.

So, here is now my own recipe for

 Strawberry Souffles with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate:

Souffle:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup strawberries, pureed
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  
• 5 egg whites (room temperature)
  
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tbs. sugar

 Directions:

1. Mix the strawberry puree, 3 tbs. of sugar and vanilla extract.
   
2. Beat the egg whites until you get soft peaks.
   
3. Gradually beat in the cream of tartar, then the next 2 tbs. sugar.
4. Gently fold the strawberry puree into the egg whites.
   
5. Pour the mixture into 6 buttered and sugared ramekins.
   
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until puffed and golden brown on top, about 12 minutes.
   

Mousse:

Ingredients:

8 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pureed fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, kept cold

Directions:

1. Mix the mascarpone and sugar until smooth.
   
2. Add the pureed strawberries.
   
3. Whip 1 ½ c. heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
   
4. Fold into strawberry mixture.
   
5. Refrigerate until serving.
   

Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate

Ingredients:

12 gorgeous, ripe, unblemished strawberries

6 oz. white chocolate pieces (or bar)

mint or lemon balm leaves for decoration

Directions:

1. Wash and DRY the strawberries. Chocolate will not stick to wet berries.
2. Lay out a piece of parchment paper and arrange the mint/balm leaves in sets of two so that you can place a strawberry between them and the chocolate will stick and hold the decoration together.
3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat.
4. While the melted chocolate is still warm, work quickly to dip each berry and place down on the parchment.
5. Refrigerate until serving. 

To assemble the three parts should be intuitive enough. Serve the souffles IMMEDIATELY. Plop a dollop of mousse on top (I punctured a hole in the souffle and filled it and then added more on top) and garnish with chocolate-dipped strawberries.