Strawberry Mousse

Be gone, food fascists – if it contains strawberries and mousse, it can be a strawberry mousse! Besides, we’re not even sure what this Irish dessert is called. ‘Wexford Mousse’, maybe. Or just ‘Honey Mousse’. The recipes is as old as the hills and has just three ingredients – get Waldorf salad-style accreditation for that! (See Note 1)

An ideal Irish dessert for a happy St. Patrick’s Day, the recipe hails from the tropical zone we bet you didn’t know Ireland had. Yes, fifty-odd miles from the frizzled Irish capital lies County Wexford, the beginning of the ‘Sunny South East’. While grim-faced Dubliners trudge through freezing rain, the locals in those parts are off catching rays or hitting the surf.

Sweet Honey

Admittedly the Irish have a weakness for euphemism, but Wexford is at the least optimal terrain for strawberries. In abundance. Come June each year, a local fruit economy prevails, with all county trade being conducted in assorted denominations of berry.

Alongside its sweet sweet strawberries, the county is also renowned for its sweet honey, and this most traditional of Irish desserts uses both. It’s really great stuff, you can really taste that the bees had a great time making it, spurred on by the blazing sun.

It’s extraordinary to taste and extraordinarily easy to make. Simply Separate 2 Egg Yolks, setting the egg whites aside. Take a Pan, Pour in the Honey and Stir in the Yolks. Cook on Very Low Heat for about 10 Minutes, Stirring all the while.

The mix should become nice and thick. If you want your strawberry mousse to have a kind of hint of crème brûlée about it, cook it a little longer, until it’s takes on a deeper golden color.

Irish Desserts in a Jiffy!

Remove your pan and set your aside to cool. Whisk the Egg White until they stiffen, then Fold them gently into the honey mixture…your Irish desserts are Done! Chill in the Fridge for a few hours and serve with fresh Strawberries as garnish. Be warned though, they’re really sweet – like the Wexford people themselves!

The ingredients below make about 8 mini portions of mousse, but, if you’ve the sweet tooth, serve it as two large portions. But the minis are great. Just enough to get that honey kick, without making you want to curl up in the corner like Pooh Bear. Double Cream can be added, too. Just reduce the amount of honey by half and Pour in half the cream while cooking. Then Whip the other half and fold into the honey mixture when you’re adding the egg white.

Unlock the Power of Honey

The secret recipe of this delicious strawberry mousse is being strong but being sweet – a formidable combo that allows you to endure what you must but still stay sensitive. If you’re sensitive to pollen, this is one of the Irish dishes you should dip into regularly. Hay fever sufferers tend to fair better if they can up their honey intake in springtime. Just get your hands on good quality, organic (raw) honey and take a little each day.

Make sure to get locally produced honey, and from the current season. Perhaps something like the delicious honey derived from the flowers of the Irish strawberry tree we use in our spiked eggnog recipe. Direct from the farmer, with zero processing. That way the pollen from your area will be gradually introduced into your body, so it’ll be more resistant when pollen counts start to peak.

Other bee products like propolis and honeycomb will also help. And not just with soothing allergies. We have evidence that honey has been used for medicinal purposes for at least 5,000 years. But its history of being used in this way is likely a LOT longer, considering it was so prized in hunter gatherer society.

Indigenous groups in parts of Africa and South America are still known to ‘hunt’ honey, often scaling rain forest canopies in search of hives. So rare and wonderful was it, that a few stings and a little 100-foot drop onto the head is surely worth the risk. Its appeal and preciousness to the health of humankind is hard to understand when viewed from our time, with refined sugar now not only ubiquitous but better avoided by those craving good health.

Just imagine what we owe the bees! Out there for millennia, beating their little wings all day, all in an effort to collect this golden treasure for us! What gents! Thank you for the well-being! From one set of Buzzers to another, we flit our wings in salutation!

Ingredients for Strawberry Mousse

Makes 8 mini portions/ 2 large portions

• 8 oz (225 g) Honey
• 2 Eggs
• Fresh Strawberries to garnish
• [12 oz (350 ml) Double Cream]

Directions

1. Pour Honey into Pan. Separate the Egg Yolks, setting aside the Egg White.
2. Stir Yolks [and half the Cream] into Honey and Cook on Very Low Heat for 10-15 minutes, Stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and set aside. Whisk Egg White and Fold into Mixture. [Whip Cream separately and fold this in, too]
4. Pour into dishes and Chill in fridge for several hours. Serve with Chopped Strawberries atop.
   
   

Note 1. We’ll eat our collective hat, we just know it. Twenty years’ time will see us swallowing big lumps of straw on the Grand-Place Miel de Bruxelles, as we watch the mayor of Wexford town accepting an EU certificate of protected designation of origin. For any tripartite dish containing the ingredients Strawberries, Honey, and Eggs. Regardless of the combination thereof.