Recipe: Salted Caramel Mousse with Toffee Popcorn

Valli Little was Delicious’s food director for many years. She is known for her imaginative, easy-to-follow and foolproof recipes. The Australian home cook passed away in 2017, but fortunately she left behind this book with 100 wonderful dishes.

Valli Little: ‘Who doesn’t love popcorn? This is such a fun dessert. Tip: this recipe makes more popcorn than you need. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.’ Dig in!

Method

1. Set aside 125 ml whipping cream and keep it at room temperature. Refrigerate the remaining cream until needed.
2. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes until soft.
3. Place the sugar and 2 tablespoons of cold water in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
4. Turn the heat to medium-high and let the syrup boil, shaking the pan occasionally until a beautiful golden-brown caramel forms.
5. Add the butter—carefully, as it may splatter.
6. Pour the lukewarm cream into the pan and stir until everything is well combined. Turn the heat down low and whisk until smooth.
7. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine leaves, add them to the caramel together with ½ teaspoon sea salt and stir until the gelatine has dissolved. Set aside and leave to cool slightly.
8. Whip the remaining cold cream with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, then gently fold it through the caramel mixture. Pour this into four 200 ml glasses.
9. Leave the mousse to set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
10. For the toffee popcorn, spread the popcorn over a greased baking sheet.
11. Stir the butter, honey and sugar together in a saucepan over low heat and let the mixture simmer gently for 6–8 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
12. Turn the heat to medium and bring the toffee mixture to a boil.
13. Let it simmer gently for another 1–2 minutes until golden brown.
14. Now work quickly: stir the baking soda into the toffee mixture and immediately pour it over the popcorn.
15. Set the popcorn aside for 10 minutes to cool and firm up.
16. Before serving, break the toffee popcorn into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle them over the mousse, optionally topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

Title: Cooking for My Family
Author: Valli Little
Price: €27.00
Publisher: Fontaine

Read also:

• 4 sweet popcorn flavours you have to try
• Who came up with salted caramel?
• How to make vegan caramel