Easy Lemon Curd Mousse

This delicious Lemon Mousse is so elegant, yet easy enough to make an ordinary day special. It tastes like a creamy, fluffy lemon cloud with a layer of graham cracker-coconut-pecan crunch on the bottom.

"Oh my goodness!" That's what Scott and I both said as we took the first bite of this lemon curd mousse and our eyes got big. It's light as one of those whimsical, fluffy, summer day clouds (well, not in calories, sorry), loaded with bright lemon flavor and smooth as silk.

The base layer of crushed graham crackers, coconut, pecans, brown sugar and melted butter is the crunchy crowning glory. Almost as good as the fabulous flavor is the fact that you can make this dessert in short order (if you have a batch of our Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd on hand, which, by the way, takes less than 15 minutes!).

The inspiration for this Easy Lemon Mousse was this Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd.

One day in the midst of developing the lemon curd recipe, I had a conversation with my daughter-in-law, Lindsay. She asked a good question; "What would you use lemon curd for?" That made me think that other people would probably be wondering the same thing. So I decided to come up with some new recipes using lemon curd. After all, lemon and spring seem to go together like the proverbial "two peas and a pod", right?

First came this delicious Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart. After that, our Lemon Curd Poppy Seed Cake and now this wonderful EAsy Lemon Mousse. I hope you're starting to get the picture that lemon curd is such a great condiment to have on hand and that there are SO many ways to use it!

A short line up of ingredients

Besides the simple graham cracker base, the list of ingredients for this lemon curd mousse is short: cream cheese, lemon curd and heavy cream. That's it. Just combine the three ingredients and layer on top of the base.

What is a mousse?

No to be confused with a mouse or something you use to style your hair, mousse is a term, according to Merriam Webster, that's used to describe "a molded chilled dessert made with sweetened and flavored whipped cream or egg whites and gelatin". Mousse (pronounced moos) is a French word that means "foam". It dates back to the late 1800s and started as a savory dish. In the early 1900s a dessert mousse was introduced in France and the rest, as they say, is (sweet) history!

Dress this lemon curd mousse up or down

I love that this lemon mousse can be dressed up or down. Serve it in a fancy glass, a simple ramekin or a glass jar. Dress it up with lemon slices, fresh fruit, whipped cream, mint leaves/sprigs or leave it plain and unadorned. Serve it on its own or paired with a shortbread cookie or sugar topped scone. However you serve it, it will definitely bring rave reviews (and oh my goodnesses!).

One last thing. Don't skip the graham cracker base. It will take a few extra minutes as it's baked in the oven for 8-10 minutes to make it crunchy, but it pairs so nicely with the silky smooth mousse and it's fun to reach down with your spoon and grab a bit for every bite!

Café Tips for making this Easy Lemon Mousse

• This recipe calls for ½ cup of heavy cream that needs to be whipped "until soft peaks form". You can pull out your electric mixer to whip the cream if you want. There are also some other easy ways to whip cream.
  • Use a small bowl or measuring cup and a whisk. It will take about 2-2½ minutes to whip a half cup of cream. If you use this type of whisk, it goes even faster! (This is my favorite way to whip cream as I can really keep an eye on it as the cream can go from lovely soft peaks to lumpy or almost-butter so quickly.)
  • Use an immersion blender. It takes about 20 seconds, although the cream is slightly less fluffy.
  • Put the cream in a medium-size mason jar and shake, shake, shake. You can employ kids or other family members to help with this (maybe promise them a slightly larger serving as an impetus).
• I used blueberries for a garnish but raspberries, strawberries, blackberries or currants would be pretty and delicious!
• Although our Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd  is so simple to make and has fantastic flavor, you could definitely use purchased lemon curd for this recipe.
• This lemon curd mousse can be made 1-2 days in advance. Wait until just before serving to add whipped cream or any garnishes.
• I love these Weck Min Tulip Jars for desserts, condiments and jams and jellies. They make a simple, yet elegant presentation.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear other’s results and ideas for variations.

5 from 8 votes

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Easy Lemon Curd Mousse

This Lemon Curd Mousse is so elegant, yet easy enough to make an ordinary day special. It's a creamy, fluffy lemon cloud on top of a graham cracker-y crunch.

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, French, French-American

Keyword: Easy Lemon Mousse, Lemon Curd Mousse

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 25 mins

Servings: 4

Calories: 392 kcal

Ingredients

For the graham cracker base:

• 2 full-size graham crackers
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar light or dark
• 3 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
• 2 ½ tablespoons melted butter

For the mousse:

• 4 ounces softened cream cheese
• 1 ¾ cups Ridiculously Easy Microwave Lemon Curd
• ½ cup heavy cream

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the graham cracker base:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a sheet pan with foil for easy cleanup, if desired.
2. Place graham crackers in a zippered bag and seal tightly. Using a rolling pin, roll over the bag until crackers are until finely crushed. Transfer crackers crumbs to a medium-size bowl.
3. Add the brown sugar, coconut, pecans and melted butter to the bowl with the cracker crumbs. Stir well to thoroughly coat the mixture with the butter. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden and crunchy. Stir halfway through to redistribute.

4. Divide the mixture between 4 six or eight-ounce jars or ramekins and pack it down slightly with the rounded tip of a spoon. Allow to cool completely while preparing the mousse.

For the mousse:

1. Whisk the cream cheese in a medium-size bowl until smooth and lump-free. Add the lemon curd and whisk together until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
2. With a whisk or a handheld mixer whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form when you pull up the whisk or mixer.
3. Fold the whipped cream into the lemon curd mixture until just combined.
4. Divide the mousse between the 4 jars/ramekins. Garnish with whipped cream and fresh fruit, if desired.

Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above in the post for further instructions and more detailed tips.

Calories 392kcal

Fat 38g

Saturated fat 21g

Cholesterol 91mg

Sodium 214mg

Potassium 135mg

Carbohydrates 13g

Fiber 2g

Sugar 6g

Protein 4g

Vitamin A 1037%

Calcium 58%

Iron 1%

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