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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.
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Easy Lemon Curd Mousse
Ingredients
For the graham cracker base:
- 2 full-size graham crackers, 4 tablespoons (30g) of crushed 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 Âľ cups Ridiculously Easy Microwave Lemon Curd
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
For the graham cracker base:
- Preheat oven to 350ËšF. Line a sheet pan with foil for easy cleanup, if desired.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- With a whisk or a handheld mixer whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form when you pull up the whisk or mixer.
- Fold the whipped cream into the lemon curd mixture until just combined.
- Divide the mousse between the 4 jars/ramekins. Garnish with whipped cream and fresh fruit, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi Chris, just wondering if you have a metric measurement for the lemon curd. Australian cup measures are different to US cups. Also would be easy to weigh it straight into the bowl. Can't wait to make it. Many thanks, Judy.
Hi Judy, I'm out right now but I will do the metric conversion in just a bit when I get home!
Hi Judy, if you click on the metric conversion button in the recipe, it's there now!
Very easy, refreshing light dessert that pairs well with almost any meal.
The recipe and directions are spot on. Everyone gave this dessert rave reviews..
Hi Arleen, Thanks for the excellent review! It's great to hear how well this recipe turned out for you and your guests. We so appreciate you taking the time to let us know!
Can I make ahead and freeze this?
Hi Karen, most of our desserts freeze well, however, I'm afraid this one would lose its texture after being thawed.
FANTASTIC!!!!!
Thanks, Valerie!
I did not have the luck everyone else seemed to have with this. While incredibly tasteful my mousse is quite runny...needs to be thicker! Spent a lot of time on this and bought cute little mini dessert cups with spoons and planned to take to a large family gathering but nope! Embarrassed to bring this runny mess.
Crust is so yummy too.
My lemon curd was spot on! I wish I had kept that to just layer with cheesecake mousse in between.
So disappointing!!!
Hmm, not sure why this would’ve been runny. It’s really difficult to say without having been right there in the kitchen with you. So many others have had so much delicious success with this recipe. I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out well for you, I hate wasting good ingredients.
Hi Christine, so sorry you had troule with this recipe. It's difficult to say what went wrong without having been right there in the kitchen with you. Others have not reported this problem. Again, sorry you wasted good ingredients.
Christine, maybe you didn't whip the heavy cream enough?
Chris... just a heads up. Your link to the jars shows a whisk...lol.
Oh man 🤪 - thanks, Cat!
This is a delicious dessert with the perfect balance of tart and sweet. I made it for a party and it was a crowd favorite. I used gluten free graham crackers and it came out great. Thank you for the recipe!
Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know, Jean!
When you say can be made a few days before but wait til just before serving to add whipped cream or any other garnish, do you mean if you want to use whipped cream as a garnish wait til just before serving? or don’t fold in the whipped cream into the curd and cream cheese mixture until serving.
Hi Veneta, wait until serving for the whipped cream garnish. Enjoy!
Thanks! Can’t wait to try it for Xmas. Might skip the whipped cream garnish, that way I can save time and have them ready a few hours before as I plan on using the mousse in a brandy snap basket.
Like Robin, I used a food processor to crush and mix the graham crackers and pecans and then hit a few pulses after adding coconut and sugar. Melted the butter in a 12" skillet while the oven was pre-heating, and mixed the crunchies in before baking/toasting together for 8-10 minutes as advised. Worked a treat, and it is absolutely delicious, even though I'm not much for coconut. Will use this mixture for other desserts, thank you! The mousse combo is one I've used many times by itself, but this crunch takes it over the top. I've taken to using lemon yogurt (Chobani Less Sugar Lemon flavor) to sub for some of the cream and cream cheese to save calories, and it comes out well.
Thanks for the review, Nell!
Well ... it wasn't easy (it took me over an hour to make this recipe), but that was my fault. I'm letting you know what I did wrong so you can avoid the goofs yourself ... and how wonderful it turned out anyway!
Goof #1: During a recent move, I lost my old (and wonderful) hand-held mixer, so I used a new one for the first time for this recipe. The new mixer is so bad one of the "stir-thingies" popped off while I was whisking the lemon curd into the cream cheese, so bits of partial lemon mouse splayed across my kitchen counter, coffee pot, etc. I'm ordering a new mixer.
Goof #2: I failed to notice that the recipe calls for half a package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (the kind in the silver package) and not the whole package, so I had half the lemon curd and cream cheese blended when I realized I needed to double the lemon curd and the amount of whipped cream (both of which I, fortunately, had on hand).
Goof #3: I didn't start with a large enough bowl.
Goof #4: I don't have a spoon with a rounded tip so I couldn't pat the graham cracker base into the bottom of the jars.
Lucky outcome #1: I'd ordered the ramekins mentioned in the recipe and got 6 of them. That's good because the amount of lemon mousse I wound up with filled all six jars with none left to fill another one. I must have gotten a different size than the one in the recipe's photo.
Lucky outcome #2: Although it took me extra steps to make this recipe (modifying what I needed to do to fix my goofs), the taste is divine. When I make it next time, I'll be prepared (and will have a better mixer!).
Notes: I used a mini-food processor to chop the pecans and crush the graham crackers, and I used store-bought lemon curd.
Thanks for your detailed review, Robin! So happy things turned out well despite a few glitches!
Wow! Probably my favorite dessert to make/serve for friends. I'm always asked to share the recipe. Hopefully noone is intimidated to make the lemon curd. It definately was easy., and oh so delicious. Once I made my first couple batches I had it down to an art. Love it, love it, love it, and so will your friends.
Thank you for sharing it!
Awesome! Thank you for your review, Holly!
Can I use mini cupcake pan for this dessert?
Hi Kathy, it would be difficult to remove this mousse from a cupcake pan.
I made this for a group of friends. They said it was the best lemon dessert ever! My husband is not a nut or coconut fan and he loved it!
Awesome! Thanks for your review, Charlene!
Hi Chris,
This is the absolutely best lemon curd recipe. I had been using a “cook on stove” recipe for quite a while, which is very good, but I am replacing it with yours. Thank you for posting!
I would like to request the label template.
So glad to hear that, Diane! We will send the labels.
Can you skip the Graham cracker crust? I don't care for coconut or pecans.
Hi Jacy, yes, you can do that.
Hi Chris,
I was wondering what the graham crackers measured after crushing them. The box that I bought was smaller than the graham cracker boxes in the past. It seemed to me that the graham crackers were a bit smaller. I measured out approximately 3 tablespoons of the graham crackers. Does this seem right for you? I'm making the dessert in four 7ounce ramekins. Thank you.
I was wondering the same thing. I'm assuming it's just two of the rectangular graham crackers. Chris usually isn't this vague on amounts, but I'm going to run with the two rectangles. Hope it turns out.
Hi Cait, you should be fine! I have clarified the amount of crushed crackers in the recipe. Happy Easter!
Hi Judy, each full size graham cracker is right around 2 tablespoons of crushed crackers (15g). So the recipe would call for 4 tablespoons (30g) of crushed crackers.
If 50 stars was a choice, that is what I would choose. This is so easy, yet such an elegant dessert. I switched it up a little and used ginger snaps instead of graham crackers just because I had them. This dessert is out of this world good!
Thank you for the recipe. It will definitely be a go to.
Wonderful! Thank you for letting us know, Patricia!
Can you store this in the freezer?
Hi Darlene, I haven't tried freezing this mousse but I think it should be fine.
Am I correct that I can make the entire mouse recipe one to two days in advance and the reference to adding whipped cream just before serving relates to a whipped cream garnish ?
Thanks in advance for your response. Love your recipes!!
Oh, can I have the emails for the lemon curd in case I haven’t already requested them?
Thx. Patricia Streeter
Yes, that's correct, Patricia. We will send the labels your way!
Hello, I am making your recipe with my daughter and we are very excited to eat it. I have a question about the nutrition facts.... vitamin A is over 1000% of DV? That can't be right and would be scary if true. Is it possibly the vitamin C?
Hi Valerie, Good question! Our nutrition program figures Vitamin A in IU's instead of mcg. The info in this post is correct but, to clarify, I have posted the RDA below in mcg and IU. (You will note that when measured in IU's, it is well within the allowance.)
The Recommended Dietary Allowance for adults 19 years and older is 900 mcg RAE for men (equivalent to 3,000 IU) and 700 mcg RAE for women (equivalent to 2,333 IU).
Such a winner! Found this recipe while I was looking for a dessert to make using some lemon curd I had purchased in London. So easy and everyone loved it. Will likely try the lemon curd recipe next time. Thanks!
That's great, Kathryn!
So good! Made this for our Easter dessert and my son and fiance just emailed asking for the recipe! The crunchy delight at the bottom is such a winner.
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, HollyRae!
Hi Chris!
Me again..lol. Not a huge fan of shredded coconut...if I omitted it, what adjustments to the crumble should I make? Thanks again for all your delicious "Going to Fatville" recipes🤣
Hi Cat, you could use a little extra crumbs or pecans.
How would I make this for 6 people?
Double the recipe?
Thanks so much
Pat
Yes, that would work, Pat.
Hi! I do not have graham crackers but I have Honey Maid crumbs...would that work?
Thanks very much!
MJ
Yes! That will work perfectly! Enjoy!
Best dessert ever, worth the time involved and I will never make lemon curd on the stovetop ever again! Thanks so
much for the shortcut!
Awesome! Thank you for letting us know, Patrice!
I finally made your curd. OMG. I'll never buy jarred curd again. Have you made it with other citrus?? I'm thinking lime, orange, or blood orange!!! Can you just???
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Victoria! I have not tried it with other citrus, but I bet it would be delicious. If you try it, let us know.
if I was using graham crumbs from the store, how much would I need? Thanks
Hi Nancy, I would use a slightly rounded quarter cup of crumbs for this recipe.
If we are purchasing lemon curd in a jar to use in the mousse recipe, do you know how many ounces we should purchase?
Hi Denise, you would need 14 ounces.
Next on my list to make., since we loved your Easy Lemon Curd. I noticed one of your awesome labels on the lemon cured. Do you use a label maker or do you create these unique labels on your computer? I would love to try to create labels also since I gift your delicious muffins to friends quite frequently. Thank you for any assistance in guiding me to a label making source. Also, thank you for sharing your recent trip....The pictures and daily adventures were so enjoyable to see and read.
Hi Jennie, hope you enjoy the mousse. Regarding your question, I use Avery.com to create most of my labels. You can go as simple or fancy as you like with their templates.
This is amazing!!! I've served this several times and always get OMG this is amazing compliments!
I'm so glad, Patti! Thanks for letting us know!
Looks delicious. I will try it. Can this mousse be used as a cake filling? Thank you.
Absolutely! You can see it here: https://thecafesucrefarine.com/lemon-curd-poppy-seed-cake/
So good! đź’•
I am making this dessert for a small dinner party and I am wondering how much in advance I can prepare the dishes. I am trying to avoid the crumble from becoming soggy. Thank you... karen
Hi Karen, I have made this early in the day and it was wonderful at dinnertime! If you wanted to make it more in advance, you could make the curd and the crumble and put them together closer to serving time.
This was quite yummy, the comments to NOT skip the crust are oh so very accurate! I made one adjustment to personalize it to my husband's tastes. I made extra lemon curd, layered the bowl with crust, mousse, then a thin layer of lemon curd, maybe 25% the thickness of the mousse. It was perfection.
I did have to strain my curd, both batches, and actually doing the 45 second intervals gave me larger bits of egg white. I tried 45-45-45-30-30 and whilst it did not have as much egg white curdled out, they were much smaller bits and more likely to go through the sieve . I am sure with more attempts, I will find the sweet spot for my microwave!
Thanks for sharing your results, Coleen. You shouldn't have to strain the jam. You probably have a very powerful microwave. Perhaps go down a power level or two to prevent lumps.
My husband is a lemon fiend. He absolutely loved this dessert and so did I. He asked the I make more of the graham cracker to use for layering with the mousse. Super summer dessert!
So happy you enjoyed this, Ana! Thanks so much for sharing your review!
again another WOW post so inspiring going to try the tart and lemon curd mousse tomorrow, but where did you get those beautiful purple edible flower seeds from I want to start seedling and grow them her I cannot find them anywhere and your artistic display talents are OUTSTANDING, show stopper quality thank again be well Diana from Toronto
Thanks so much, Diana, for your very kind comment. Hope you enjoy the tart and mousse.
I find my flowers all over. Some of the are wild and grow here in the mountains of NC. Some we buy as small plants from a local nursery and some we grow from seed. I've gotten edible flower seeds from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2UUqUgE
I have graham cracker crumbs and was wondering about how much to use instead of the actual graham crackers. Thanks so much! The curd is divine!
Hi Lisa, it would be about ÂĽ cup of crumbs. I'm glad you like the curd!
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for your delicious recipes! We have a tree-nut allergy in my family. Can I omit the nuts from the crust or can you recommend a substitute? How would I alter the measurements for the other crust ingredients?
Hi Mimi, just add a little extra coconut. It will be delicious!
Just lovely and lemon desserts are my absolute favourite. A great way to brighten these days 🙂
Excellent lemon mousse. I had made your microwave lemon curd a couple of days ago so made the mousse yesterday. I was out if blueberries so used blackberries for garnish. Oh so yummy. Thanks so much for Sharing. Have loved every one of your recipes that I have tried. Not one disappointment
Yay! So happy you had all the ingredients, Bobbi! Thanks so much for your kind words and for taking the time to leave a review!
I made lemon curd this week and I had cream, graham crackers, unsweetened coconut and pecans. Soooo, we had one of the most delicious desserts we've EVER had. Thank you so much for coming up with this. I can't wait to our next dinner party to wow everybody. I promise to give you credit!
You're so welcome, Rennee! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
Lovely!! Bill adores lemon treats so it's fun to shake up our desserts, and your mousse would be a hit. Man cannot live on chocolate alone!
Haha! Thanks, Liz! Maybe this one will turn his head toward lemon!
Chris
We’ve been mostly sheltered in place now for a few weeks and while I am grateful for our families health at this time, it does tend to get so routine. Wanted to let you know how much help your new recipes have been in terms of breaking the monotony. I have not been able to run to the store to buy ingredients as easily but it’s so nice to be able to read about a new recipe idea and I did buy lemons on our last grocery run. It may not seem like much but just reading about a new and different recipe is such a bright spot in my day. So thank you and wishing you a healthy spring. Keep them coming 🙂
Hi Beth,
We're in the same boat with you, hunkered up on this lonely mountain together. It's nice though, to be quarantined with someone I really like!
Thanks for your kind and encouraging words. I hope you can make this lemon curd mouse. It's really nice to have a sweet treat in the middle of all this craziness. Stay safe and I think we'll all be better on the other side of this đź’•