This no bake gelatin-less White Chocolate & Tender Coconut Mousse with Wine Poached Plums is the perfect dessert to put when you want something fancy yet simple. Takes 30 minutes to put it together and is my go-to recipe for impressing people.
It seems like I am fast turning into the queen of mile long post titles! While I was typing this, the man passed by and told me “White Chocolate & Tender Coconut Mousse with Wine Poached Plums” seems like a never ending name of the dish. I did a quick hmmpff and turned him away! Well isn’t a post title and the dish name always supposed to tell you of what it really is and if I have to really tell you what this gorgeous looking thing is I have to use “White Chocolate & Tender Coconut Mousse with Wine Poached Plums “. Actually I should ideally use “White Chocolate & Tender Coconut Mousse with Wine Poached spice Plums” okay, okay, I am going a little over board may be but you get the idea 😀
I adore seasonal fruits and have been ODing on them for a while. Whether it is the wild plums or the cherries or the apricots and the peaches and but of course, the mangoes. Summer is made for fruit love. While the imported plums are available all year though the local seasonal one are in abundance right now as well. While the fruits are available at my local grocer, when I think of making a dessert I usually get stuck on how to buy certain gourmet items. I live in the suburbs and driving to town for the sake of buying imported products which aren’t available in the local kirana store is a painful thought specially considering Bangalore traffic. Sometimes I take as much as an hour to reach the main road from my house and the distance covered is all of 800 meters. Well, let’s leave cribbing about Bangalore traffic for another day, anyway. Considering I don’t have easy access to the gourmet and imported products my dessert experiments in the kitchen were coming down and I don’t have to tell you how much I hated that.
And then as all Bangaloreans, I discovered the joy of online ordering. Isn’t it just fantastic that one can buy imported products online by just a click of a button, no worries about getting stuck in traffic, no worries about driving all the way to figure out that the item you wanted is not in stock, now all you have to do is click on a website to buy gourmet online? Online grocery shopping honestly has been a game changing experience for me.
This “White Chocolate & Tender Coconut Mousse with Wine Poached Plums” is I think the perfect thing for the current weather have in Bangalore, the plums poached in wine with spices make you feel warm and leave that satisfying feeling at the end of the bite. Normally I am not a big fan of white chocolate or white chocolate desserts but the spice and the sharpness of the wine here perfectly balances the sweetness of white chocolate. In fact, when I served the dessert in those small shot glasses I literally got abused by my friends for giving them so less. It’s an almost perfect dessert with sweetness of white chocolate, creaminess of the coconut milk and the sharpness and spice of wine poached plums. Make it while the wild local plums are still in the market though it does work with the imported plums as well. I don’t add any sugar to the mousse base int this as this is primarily an adult dessert and I feel the white chocolate has enough sweetness in itself but if you like your desserts sweet, add some castor sugar to the whipping cream while whipping it.
White Chocolate & Tender Coconut Mousse with Wine Poached Plums
Ingredients
For the Mousse
- 1 cup chocolate chopped white (I use Lindt)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup whipping cream chilled
- Generous pinch sea salt
For the Wine Poached Plums
- 1 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup plums chopped
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 Star anise
- Pinch nutmeg freshly grated
Instructions
- Peel and chop plums in thin slices. In a heavy bottom pan heat wine, sugar and spices and bring to boil. Add the plums and simmer till the plums are soft. This will take about 10-15 minutes on low heat.
- Using a double boiler or a in a microwave, melt together white chocolate and coconut milk. Add sea salt, mix well and set aside for cooling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer whip the cream till it has soft peaks. I use Amul cream and cut the tetra pack horizontally and then drain all the liquid, once the thick cream is left I chill it for 2 hours before whipping. Amul whipping cream works the same way. It also helps if you chill the mixer bowl.
- Fold in the chocolate and coconut milk mixture gently into the whipped cream taking care that mixture doesn't flat out. Pour in the cups you are going to serve and chill for 1.5 hours. After 1.5 hours, pour the poached plums and chill further for atleast 30 minutes.
- I like to keep it out for 10 minutes before serving but it's really a compulsion to do so!
The dessert looks so tempting! Could you suggest any alternative for wine , for teetotalers like me?
@Dipti – I think Grape Juice/Cranberry Juice with a touch of Balsamic Vinegar should work
Awesome , Thanks !
Hail the queen of mile long posts. Will be worth trying this out
It’s strawberry season…can the plums be substituted with them.
Yes strawberries will work
I have read your information and your suggestions that you have shared with us. You made a good site and giving us such a great information. Thanks for sharing the best and useful tips they very nice and very help us.
I knew why coming across your recipes is a bad thing. How can I stay away from this, you tell me now?
HAAAAWWWW