Friday, June 15, 2012

RECIPE - Lime Mousse (Mousse de Limão)

It really wouldn't be fair to end a series of posts about Brazil's fabulous spectrum of limes and lemons without posting a few recipes employing these versatile and universally-loved citrus fruits. So here comes the first one.

Probably Brazil's favorite lime dessert, and certainly one of the very easiest to make is called mousse de limão in Portuguese, which you can translate as lime mousse. All that you need to do is squeeze some fresh limes, zest their peel, add a couple of cans of milk products, blend it all in a blender and chill it. Done! The result is cool, creamy and zingy with lime flavor and there can't be many people that wouldn't like it. In Brazil you can buy this type of lime mousse in bakeries, sweet shops and supermarkets, but really, it's so easy to make at home that there's really no reason to do so.

The recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk and another processed milk product that is called creme de leite in Brazil. In Spanish speaking Latin America the product is known as media crema, and it can be found under that name in Latin American grocery stores throughout North America. The best-known brand, in Brazil and elsewhere is Nestle, and in cans that are sold in the USA and Canada the produce is labeled table cream as well as media crema. It's available online as well from any number of vendors of Mexican foodstuffs. You can even buy it on amazon.com though there you'll have to buy a case of 24.

This recipe can be made either with Persian limes or Key limes, though if you are using small Key limes, you should double the quantity of fruit listed below.
______________________________________________________
RECIPE - Lime Mousse (Mousse de Limão)
Serves 6-8

2 cans sweetened condensed milk
2 cans creme de leite (media crema)
juice of 6 freshly squeezed Persian limes
microplane-grated zest of one lime for garnish (optional)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Combine the sweetened condensed milk, the creme de leite and the lime juice in a large blender. Blend at high speed for at least four or five minutes, or until the mousse thickens.

Pour into a decorative serving bowl, or individual dessert dishes, sprinkle the surface with grated lime zest if desired and refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

Serve cold from the refrigerator.



7 comments:

  1. Isn't "creme de leite" what they call "heavy cream" in the U.S? Have you ever done a series of posts about these type of products and the differences and similiarities between them? Like heavy cream, buttermilk, greek yogurt and their similars in brazil?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gabi - creme de leite isn't the same thing as heavy cream. Heavy cream is a natural product, and creme de leite is processed. It's much thicker than even heavy cream. When I've written about creme de leite in the past, Brazilians who live in the USA have written me to confirm that the Nestle product Media Crema is the same as creme de leite, and that is what they use to make their favorite Brazilian recipes.
      Thanks for the comment and the suggestion about dairy products - it's a very good idea.
      JAMES

      Delete
  2. Hi, could you please say what size the cans are? e.g. in millilitres?

    ReplyDelete