This calamansi mousse is light and creamy with a pronounced flavour of calamansi and whimsically presented in the shape for a real calamansi fruit with it’s speckled citrus skin and stem to finish!

Calamansi is a sour citrus fruit from the Philippines and is becoming increasingly popular in modern desserts and pastries. It can be hard to come by and so can be substituted with most sour citrus fruits including limes, lemons and yuzu.

This calamansi mousse and citrus skin effect is inspired by Cedric Grolet’s fruits.

Ingredients

Gelatin mass

• 3g gelatin powder
• 20g water

Calamansi Mousse

• 25g gelatin mass
• 300g heavy cream 
• 90g white chocolate
• 65g calamansi juice

Green Glaze

• 200g white chocolate
• 200g cocoa butter
• Green colour powder

Neutral Glaze

• 50g sugar
• 115g water
• 5g NH pectin

Decoration and plating

• Yellow powder
• Gold powder
• Coconut Streusel Crumb

Tools

• Narrow container
• Hand Blender
• Half sphere moulds
• Stand mixer
• Microwave
• Thermometer
• Skewers
• Oil spray bottle / Spray gun

TLDR Method

1. Bloom the gelatin in the water.
2. Boil half of the heavy cream, take off heat and dissolve gelatin.
3. Pour over white chocolate and emulsify with a hand blender.
4. Add the remaining cream and calamansi juice and emulsify with a hand blender.
5. Set in fridge covered with plastic wrap.
6. Once set, whip to soft peaks in a stand mixer.
7. Pipe into half sphere moulds and set in freezer.
8. Once set, join half spheres and freeze again.
9. Melt the white chocolate and cocoa butter together and then add the colouring and emulsify with a hand blender
10. Skewer the mousse balls and dip into the green glaze.
11. Once the glaze has set (a few seconds) place onto plate for spraying.
12. Heat the green glaze to 45°C and spray onto the mousse balls using an oil spray or a spray gun.
13. Reserve in fridge until ready to spray the neutral glaze
14. Boil the sugar and water, and the pectin and boil for a further 2 minutes to make the neutral glaze
15. Spray neutral glaze onto the mousse balls to create a citrus skin effect.
16. Pipe some of the green glaze into icy water to form long strands.
17. Cut desired stem shapes and attach to the mousse ball, where the skewer hole was.

Detailed Method Gelatin Mass

1. Combine the water and gelatin powder in a bowl and heat over a bain-marie and mix until the gelatin is dissolved. 
2. Reserve the mixture to set in the fridge.

Calamansi Mousse

1. Prepare the white chocolate in a tall and narrow container.
2. Heat about half of the heavy cream until just beginning to simmer.
3. Turn off the heat, allow to cool slightly and add the gelatin mass and stir to dissolve.
4. Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and give the container a swirl to ensure the cream covers all of the chocolate.
5. Give the chocolate 30 seconds to melt and then blend with a hand blender until smooth and emulsified.
6. Pour into a bowl and touch plastic wrap to the surface and allow to set completely in the fridge (ideally at least around 4 hours)
7. Once set, place into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on medium speed until pillowy and voluminous
8. Transfer to a piping bag and cut a 1cm tip.
9. Pipe into half sphere moulds. Tap the moulds onto a surface to ensure there are no air pockets. Level off the tops with an offset spatula so they are completely flat.
10. Transfer the filled moulds to the freezer and allow to freeze completely (at least around 4 hours or ideally overnight).
11. Once completely frozen, remove the mousse from the mould and join the two half spheres together, pressing them firmly together and using your thumb and fingers to remove the seam.
12. Reserve in the freezer until ready to glaze.

Green Glaze

1. Melt the white chocolate and cocoa butter together in short 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring in between each interval, until completely melted.
2. Transfer to a tall narrow vessel and blend it in with a hand blender adding a small amount of colour each time until desired colour is achieved.

Neutral Glaze

1. Whisk half of the sugar and the pectin together
2. Combine the remaining sugar and water and heat until boiling.
3. Add the sugar and pectin mixture and whisk continuously until dissolved.
4. Heat until boiling and hold at boiling for 2 minutes.
5. Reserve in a bowl until ready to use.

Coating the Mousse

1. Ensure the green glaze is at 45°C. If it has cooled, heat it in short 10-15 second intervals in the microwave.
2. Poke a skewer 1cm deep into the mousse ball.
3. Dip the mousse in the green glaze, give it a slight swirl to ensure the entire surface is coated, lift the mousse out and hold it up while twirling so that the excess drips towards the skewer. It should set in a few seconds.
4. Carefully take the mousse off the skewer and reserve onto a lined tray. Leave the skewer hole open so the stem can be placed in it.
5. Repeat the process with the remaining mousse balls, working quickly.
6. Reserve the coated mousse in the fridge.

Citrus skin effect

1. Prepare the spraying area. We used a small plate lined with baking paper in a cardboard box.
2. Bring the green glaze to 45°C and pour into an oil spray bottle or spray gun.
3. Spray a light coating onto the coated mousse, turning the plate until all sides are lightly coated. It should have a matt and speckled effect.
4. Bring the neutral glaze to 45°C and pour into an oil spray bottle or spray gun.
5. Spray a light coating of the neutral glaze onto the mousse. It should have a glossy and citrus skin texture.
6. Reserve coated mousse in the fridge.

Calamansi Stems

1. Prepare a bowl with cold water and ice.
2. Transfer the green glaze to a piping bag.
3. Cut a small 2mm tip and pipe into the cold water. Aim for long strands submerged into the water.
4. Allow to set (around 10-20 seconds) and carefully take out and place onto a paper towel.
5. Cut into desired stem shapes.
6. Using a hot knife, melt part of the calamansi mousse near the skewer hole and carefully place the stem inside. Repeat for the remaining calamansi mousses.

Decorating and plating

1. Mix a small amount of yellow and gold powder together and lightly brush onto the calamansi mousse for a natural ripening effect.
2. Serve on a small mound of Coconut Streusel Crumb.