Mixed Berry and Cheese Mousse

This is best described as a light cheesecake without the base...  The original in my ancient Good Housekeeping was a ring mould, with the jelly part crowning a cheese mousse.  However, as my ring mould wasn't large enough, and I wanted something a bit more 21st century, I opted for the striped effect.   It didn't take much longer to make, as I chilled the jelly part in a separate mould, dropping it into the bowl with the cheese bit before adding the final cheese mousse.  Top tip - make the jelly in a mould exactly the same size as the bowl!   (second top tip - use sheet gelatine, it's much easier)

Mixed Berry Cheese Mouse

Mixed Berry and Cheese Mousse

Berry jelly layer:

1lb/400g mixed fruit – red/black/white currants, raspberries added later

¼ pint/150ml water

1-2oz/25-50g caster sugar (to taste)

4 sheets gelatine  

Cheese mousse layers:

2oz/50g caster sugar

1 orange, zest and juice

1 lemon, zest and juice

7floz/200ml crème fraiche (1 tub)

9oz/250g cream cheese (1 tub)

2 eggs, separated

6 sheets gelatine plus 3 tbsp hot water in a small bowl

½ pint/142ml double cream

Put the mixed currants into a pan, add the water and sugar and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.  I started with the smaller amount of sugar, and added a little bit more as the blackcurrants were especially tart!  Cook slowly, so that the berries keep their shape, then add the raspberries before letting it all cool down.  Soak the gelatine sheets in water until soft, then add to the fruit, stirring gently to distribute the gel.  Pour almost all of the mixture into a tin the same size as the serving bowl, and put it in the fridge to set.  Leave the remaining part for decoration.

Put the rind, juice, caster sugar, crème fraiche, cream cheese and egg yolks in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Again, soak the gelatine sheets in cold water, before squeezing them out and putting them into the hot water to disperse.   Add the liquid gelatine to the mix and blend again.  In a large bowl, whip the cream, then add to it all the cheese mixture and fold together (yes, I know you’re supposed to do it the other way round, but you can’t fold cream into a blender, and it means dirtying another bowl!).  Lastly, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks, folding in a tablespoon to break up the texture, then the rest. 

Pour half of the cheese mixture into your chosen dish, chill (keep the other half of the mixture in a warm place so it doesn’t set prematurely).   When it is pretty nearly set, turn the jelly layer over the top of the cheese layer (it helps to loosen the edge of the jelly layer with a knife and then give it a sharp jolt or two until it has shivered out onto the bottom layer).  Add the remaining cheese layer and chill again.  Lastly, warm up the remaining jelly section, just so that it comes loose and you can pour it onto the top.  Chill again, then serve.