Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse Parfait

These creamy and luxurious mousses have a delicious hint of lemon and a subtle white chocolate flavor. I love the clean crispness of this dish and I also really love the tiered look. I've made this a few times and each time I appreciate this dish a little more.

It's a beautiful dessert and not too overly complicated to make. The recipe comes out chic and will perfectly complete a meal. I made it last for a Piedmont friend reunion dinner this past week. I think if you're using Meyer lemons then you might be able to get away using a bit less lemon juice as the Meyer lemons are so unbelievably flavorful. I really like this dish the best in little mini cups but you can display it in cocktail glasses if you want. I think it has such a punch of flavor that you really only need a few bites after a big tasty meal.

Look at my little cute pup Rocco trying to get a taste

The mousses should be a light fluffy consistency

* This recipe is inspired by an Epicurious recipe below

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-and-White-Chocolate-Mousse-Parfaits-with-Strawberries-352046

Ingredients:

5 Large Egg yolks (organic free range eggs if you can find them

1/2 cup sugar plus a Tbls more for Whipped Cream

1/4 cup lemon juice and 3 Tbls grated lemon peel

pinch of salt

3 1/4 cups whipped Cream

1 3.5 oz High Quality White Chocolate Bar crunched up with your hand into small chunks

4 cups finely sliced strawberries

Instructions:

Begin by tackling the lemon mousse. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, lemon juice, peel and pinch of salt in a little metal bowl that is small enough to set over a big saucepan of bowling water. Or use a double boiler if you have it. Make sure the water is on a very gentle simmer otherwise you'll scramble the yolks and have to feed your lemon scrambled eggs to your furry pet. (Jk don't do that because the lemon might mess with his tummy).

Whisk the mixture for about 7-12 minutes until its pretty thick. This process can take a while. Make sure to keep on whisking until it really is quite thick. Take the lemon mixture off the stove and let it cool off.

Now combine a few tbls of the cream with the white chocolate in another small metal bowl over the simmering water until its just melted and no longer in chunks. Cool this mousse to room temp as well. Beat the cream in a big bowl until you have soft peaks. Add the Tbls of sugar. Next divide the whipped cream into the two mixtures evenly. Fold in a few cups at a time until all the cream is incorporated.

Now layer a few tbls of the lemon mousse in the bottom of the serving dish. Top this with a few tbls of the strawberries layered neatly. Make sure you put enough strawberries in there so that you will see the layer. Top this with the white chocolate mousse. Layer 1 or 2 more times depending on how much room you have. It's best if you make the dish a few hrs before so it can sit in the fridge and set. Top each parfait with some of the tiny slices of the strawberries (the smaller the better and the sweeter).