If You Have Lemons And These 2 Canned Milks, Luxurious Mousse Is Easy To Whip Up In Minutes

Combine the bright tartness of citrus with the seemingly science-defying, airy-yet-creamy quality of mousse, and you've got yourself one dream of a dessert in the form of lemon mousse. It's rich but as light as a cloud, with the citrus bringing a freshness to balance its decadence. If you're thinking about which day-brightening lemon dessert recipes to make at home, mousse might not be your first pick — but only because it might seem like a lot of work to prepare. Traditionally, recipes require combining something like melted chocolate or fruit purée with some agent of aeration, such as egg whites and sugar that have been whipped into a meringue. It also might call on gelatin for setting its spoonable texture. Who has the time? Well, get ready to enjoy a heavenly lemon mousse, anyway, because there's an incredibly simple way to make it that involves just three ingredients that you might already have in your kitchen right now. 

Forget the many steps of preparation or the trip to the grocery store to shop for ingredients. Just get out some lemons, a can of evaporated milk, and a can of sweetened condensed milk. This is one of the tastiest, most effortless, and creative ways to enjoy canned food for dessert. Simply whisk the evaporated milk — it should be very cold — for several minutes and watch it thicken into a gorgeous cream. Then whisk in the condensed milk, followed by the freshly squeezed juice of two or three lemons. Pour the mixture into glasses or ramekins, refrigerate overnight, and enjoy!

Making mousse the more typical way can seem intimidating. There are quite a few common mistakes people make with mousse that can ruin it, like over- or under-mixing, not straining ingredients like custard, and so on. This three-ingredient lemon mousse removes most of that guess-work, so you can count on a delightful dessert every time. 

One of the only major considerations with this lemon mousse is temperature, particularly for the evaporated milk. It has to be super cold, because room-temperature evaporated milk simply doesn't froth and thicken the way it does when it's chilled. Beyond that, simply ensure you're using condensed milk that's sweetened. Since you're not adding sugar, you need that sweetness to balance the lemon's acidity. And for that lemon, do try to use fresh juice. If you know when to use bottled versus fresh lemon juice, you may already be aware that bottled juice may provide consistency, but fresh juice always promises bigger, brighter, and more complex lemon flavor.

Once your lemon mousse has sufficiently chilled for at least eight hours — this is why overnight is an easy way to go — you can keep serving simple with a dollop of whipped cream and candied lemon peels or grated lemon zest. You could also add chopped pistachios, fresh mint or basil leaves, and blueberries or raspberries to garnish — really, whatever fruit is in the fridge would be a tasty topping for this bright dessert.