Finally, the long awaited, Italian lemon mousse recipe that my sister has been urging me to make for ages. I am pleased to present it here, and even more pleased that there is no oven to heat up to make it even though it's finally much cooler here.

Italian Lemon Mousse
From The Gourmet Menu Cookbook via my sister

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup whipping cream
  

Directions:

• Beat the egg yolks until fluffy and pale yellow.
• Beat in the sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
• Cook the yolk mixture over hot water (double-boiler) until thick, whisking constantly.
• Place the hot bowl into another bowl with cool water and set aside to cool.
• Beat the cream until it forms soft peaks.
• Beat the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks.
• Fold the egg whites and whipped cream into the cooled yolk mixture.
• Chill in the refridgerator until cold.
  

About this recipe: I've thought of a good subtitle for this recipe: Italian Lemon Mouse, the Recipe of Many Bowls. I used no less than 7 bowls while making this delight. My small metal mixing bowl for the egg yolk steps, my large metal mixing bowl for the whipping of the cream and the whipping of the egg whites (one bowl, two separate steps, washed and dried in between), two small cereal bowls one for the egg whites, the other egg yolks, a tiny bowl for the lemon juice, a medium bowl with cool water to put my small metal bowl in to cool the cooked custard, and a bowl I transferred the whipped cream to to free up the large metal mixing bowl. Phew!

Here's a recipe where a hand mixer might be superior to a stand mixer, as long as you have enough bowls since that would make washing and drying your mixer's bowl unnecessary. In any case, this isn't a recipe for those with a minimal supply of bowls.

Aside from the bowl issue, this recipe was quite easy. Cooking the yolk custard over water (by using a double-boiler or a bowl over a sauce pot of simmering/slowly boiling water) is the longest step in the process. It took probably close to 15 minutes for the magic to happen and the yolk mixture to go from a coat the back of a spoon consistency to a thick custard. I didn't have my hot water ready so this includes the time it took to heat the water, and thus, the bowl. Have patience, it will happen. I always let my water boil, but not too robustly, when doing the double-boiler thing because it never seems to get the bowl hot enough other wise.

In the time it took to whip the cream, wash the bowl, and whip the eggs, the yolk mixture had cooled enough to fold in the good stuff. I made the mistake of whipping my cream a little too stiff so my mousse ended up with a few small lumps even though I folded it thoroughly.

The result: light as a cloud, the ephemeral mousse is smooth and sweet with several layers of lemon flavor from the juice and the zest that break out above the creaminess. I find it very pleasing but admittedly a little strange. I must qualify by saying my taste test was done now, before my mousse has completely chilled which I'm told, and believe, will mellow it out a bit. I was surprised at how sweet it actually is given that there's only 1/2 cup of sugar but maybe my lemons were on the sweet side. I recommend this mousse but think that if you need to please a crowd, you should opt for a chocolate mousse.