Lemon Yogurt Mousse

Lemon Yogurt Mousse

This dessert has a light and airy texture.  My Lemon Yogurt Mousse is perfect after a fish meal or a heavy meal.  In many recipes it calls for egg yolks, but I want something quick and easy.  In Italy I love to eat a sorbetto di limone and some have a creamy texture. This type of dessert incorporates a lot of cream and I don’t want all the fat.I use a light cream cheese to give it depth, 2% yogurt to thin it out and light cool whip to give the airy feel without all the calories of whipping cream. Most of the time I use limoncello liqueur, but today I only have lemons at home.

Do Real Italians eat Mousse?

My dad doesn’t like the texture of mousse and it was many years before we had pudding in our house.  The closest comparison for us would be the lemon filling in the cupcakes or the custard in cake. The other dessert that may compare is panna cotta. Mousse wasn’t something that would withstand the heat in Calabria or Sicily or something either family could have before a refrigerator. My dad does love cannoli and the texture of mascarpone and ricotta; if you wrap it in cake or cookies, he will eat it. What desserts do Italians like?  This is a good article from the Huffington Post:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/Menuism/10-essential-italian-dess_b_7638432.html

Italian Lemons

The best lemons in my opinion are found on the Amalfi Coast. They also make the best limoncello: a lemon liqueur.

https://www.deliciousitaly.com/campania-naples-food/story-of-the-amalfi-coast-lemon

I took this picture in September; I can’t get enough of their lemons.

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Lemon Yogurt Mousse

A light dessert to end any meal. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup yogurt
• lemon zest
• 1/4 cup Limoncello liqueur or lemon juice
• 2 cups cool whip light

Instructions

1. Soften the cream cheese and add the sugar.  I use a hand mixer.  You can also do this with a spatula.  

   Add the yogurt and mix again.

   Pour in the lemon juice and incorporate.

   Zest of half a lemon.

   Add 1/2 cup of the cool whip and stir.

   Fold in the remainder of the of the cool whip. Be Gentle here.  

   Pour into martini glasses.

   Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

   Garnish with lemon zest and slices of lemon.