This chocolate strawberry mousse is light, silky, and layered with bright strawberry flavor and a creamy chocolate ganache topping. It's an elegant make-ahead dessert that feels fancy but comes together with just a few simple ingredients.
A base of smooth strawberry puree gets cooked down, sweetened, thickened with gelatin, and gently folded into fluffy whipped cream. The extra strawberry puree gets cooked down and added a sweet, jammy layer to the bottom of each mousse cup.
Once the mousse is fully chilled, a glossy chocolate ganache is spooned over the top for the perfect contrast of rich chocolate and fresh berry flavor!
We love light and fluffy mousse desserts. Try these mousse cups alongside our raspberry mousse cake, nutella mousse, white chocolate mousse cake, or pumpkin mousse pie for other flavor variations.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Light and airy texture - thanks to the combination of whipped cream and gelatin, this mousse stays ultra light and creamy.
Naturally fruity - made from either fresh or frozen strawberries, there's no other flavor additives here! Plus, we're adding a bit of chocolate (a classic pairing that never misses).
Make ahead friendly - this mousse lasts for a week in the fridge, so it can very easily be made days in advance of when you plan to serve.
Ingredients
- Strawberries. Fresh or frozen strawberries can be used and get cooked down with a bit of sugar for a more intense strawberry flavor.
- Sugar. Helps to sweeten and balance the acidity from the strawberries.
- Gelatin. Powdered gelatin gets mixed with water to bloom then gets mixed with strawberry puree. This combination helps the mouse set into a soft, scoopable texture.
- Heavy whipping cream. Whipped to stiff peaks to lighten the mousse and add the base texture.
- Semi-sweet chocolate. Gets mixed with heavy cream to create a smooth, rich chocolate ganache to top the strawberry mousse.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Swap the strawberries with raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or cherries! Or go for a combination of mixed berries.
- Use dark, milk, or white chocolate for the ganache.
- Add crunch by topping the mousse with crushed cookies, chocolate shavings, or toasted nuts.
How to Make This Recipe
One: Puree fresh strawberries and pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.
Two: Add sugar and cook down the strawberry puree to remove water.
Three: Transfer half of the puree to a bowl and mix in bloomed gelatin.
Four: Continue cooking down the other half of strawberry puree until thick and jammy.
Five: Beat cold whipped cream and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Six: Fold in the strawberry puree with the gelatin until combined.
Hot tip! Fold in a "J" motion and take your time so you don't deflate the whipped cream!
Seven: Add a small amount jammy strawberries to the bottom of a jar or bowl.
Eight: Top with the strawberry mousse and refrigerate a few hours until set.
Nine: Combine the chopped chocolate and hot heavy cream and mix to combine.
Ten: Pour a spoonful of sugar over each set strawberry mousse. Top with a strawberry half before serving.
Expert Tips
- Cool the strawberries completely before adding the gelatin and folding in the whipped cream. Warm puree will melt the whip!
- Don't overfold the mousse. Fold until it's just combined with the strawberries to keep it ligth and flufy.
- Chill time matters. The mousse needs a solid 3-4 hours in the fridge to fully set up properly.
- Serve cold. The texture and flavor shines best while chilled.
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Testing Notes
- I had to make the decision to go with either egg whites or gelatin to set the mousse. Because of the high water content of the strawberries, I wanted to use gelatin to ensure that the mousse would always set up even if there wasn't quite enough water cooked out.
- I originally used too much gelatin, which made it have a slightly off-putting texture, but reducing the amount by a ½ teaspoon made all the difference!
- The riper the strawberries, the stronger the flavor. There were noticeable differences between batches when I used store-bought strawberries (in late fall) vs some I had frozen from the summer!
Recipe FAQs
Totally! Thaw, then puree and strain before cooking.
This could be for a few reasons. The gelatin mixture may not have been fully dissolved or bloomed, the strawberry base may have been a bit warm, or the whipped cream was folded into the strawberries too vigorously and it got deflated.
Absolutely. Use a glass dish or shallow baking dish to layer it up, then scoop and serve it into cups or bowls!
It's totally optional, but it makes the dessert takes just like a chocolate-covered strawberry!
Storage
Refrigerator: Store covered for up to one week.
Freezer: Freeze without the ganache for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Do not store at room temperature. The mousse needs to stay chilled to hold its shape.
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What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
📖Recipe
Chocolate Strawberry Mousse
Equipment
- Saucepans
- Piping bags optional
Ingredients
Strawberry Mousse
- 2 lbs strawberries fresh or frozen
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 ½ teaspoons powdered gelatin
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Chocolate Ganache
- 2 oz semi sweet chocolate chopped
- 3 oz heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Strawberry Puree
- Hull and puree the strawberries until very smooth, then pass through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.2 lbs strawberries
- Add the strawberry puree and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat and cook until it begins to simmer.⅔ cup granulated sugar
- While it’s cooking, add the water to a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over top and stir. Let it bloom for a couple minutes until it gets thick.2 tablespoons cold water, 1 ½ teaspoons powdered gelatin
- Remove half of the strawberry puree to a bowl and whisk in the thick gelatin until dissolved and combined.
- Continue cooking the other half of the strawberries until thick and jammy, another 5 minutes or so. Transfer to a bowl.
- Refrigerate both bowls of strawberries (uncovered) until completely cool (stir occasionally), about an hour.
Strawberry Mousse
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the whipped cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form.1 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Fold half of the whipped cream into the cooled strawberries WITH gelatin, then repeat with the remaining whipped cream until combined. Careful not to deflate the cream!
- Note: stir/mash up the strawberries with the gelatin if it's set up too much (before adding the whipped cream)!
- Disperse the remaining strawberry puree (WITHOUT gelatin) to the bottom of cups or ramekins, then spoon or pipe the mousse on top of the puree.
- Refrigerate uncovered for at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
Chocolate Ganache
- Once the mousse is set, make the ganache.
- Add the chopped chocolate to a bowl and heat the heavy cream (on the stove or in the microwave) until steaming and almost bubbling.2 oz semi sweet chocolate, 3 oz heavy whipping cream
- Pour over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute. Stir, starting from the center and moving out slowly until completely combined and smooth.
- Cool to room temperature, then spoon over each of the set strawberry mousse cups. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with a half slice of strawberry before serving.
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