With citrus season comes the exciting time of deciding what things to make with your wonderful citrus fruits! As I mentioned in my lemon curd post, curds are on of my favorite things to make during this time of the year. So, I decided to make a delicious and easy dessert cup with some of my bright and tangy lemon curd! The graham cracker crust provides a lovely textural component, the curd gives a strong, fresh flavor, and the white chocolate cream mousse not only serves as a light and creamy element, but it provides the final touch that makes a perfectly balanced bite. Without further ado, let’s make this delightful treat!

Graham Cracker Crust:

Ingredients:

• Crushed Graham Crackers
• Granulated Sugar
• Unsalted Butter

In a small bowl, place one stick of unsalted butter and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. You may need to heat the butter for a little longer to ensure that it is fully melted. While the butter is melted in the microwave, add the crushed graham crackers and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Thoroughly mix the graham cracker and sugar together. Next, pour in the melted butter while you stir it into the graham cracker and sugar mixture. Once all the butter is added, continue to mix until all the graham cracker and sugar mixture is completely coated in the butter.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350°F. Place a 2” circle fondant/cookie cutter onto the parchment paper and add 2 tablespoons of the graham cracker mixture. Press the mixture into a flat layer inside of the fondant cutter and then slowly and carefully lift the cutter straight up. Your graham cracker layer should remain intact. Repeat this process until all the graham cracker crust mixture is used. Place the crusts in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Once they are done, remove from the oven, place the baking sheet on a cooling rack, and let them cool completely.

Acetate Sheets:

I used acetate sheets because I knew that it would make for a pretty, layered presentation. You will want an acetate sheet roll that is about 2” in width. Using the 2” circle fondant/cookie cutter, wrap the acetate sheet around the cookie cutter, cut it, and tape it to make a cup that will go around the graham cracker crust. Use the first acetate sheet as a guide to make the process go much faster. Make as many as needed, place them onto the cooled graham cracker crusts, and then proceed to the next step.

Lemon Curd:

Ingredients:

• Lemon Curd
• Granulated Gelatin
• Water

For this layer, I used my lemon curd recipe, which you can find in the link in the ingredients list. The only difference that I made from my recipe is that I added a small amount of gelatin. Before you put your curd mixture onto the stove to cook, add 1 tablespoon of water and ½ teaspoon of granulated gelatin to a small bowl. Mix the gelatin into the water and set it aside to bloom while the curd cooks on the stove. Once the curd is done cooking, remove it from the heat, add the gelatin, and thoroughly mix it into the curd. Strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve and let it cool for approximately 5-10 minutes. Once it is cool enough to pipe, add the lemon curd to a piping bag and pipe into each dessert cup. Use a spoon to make the lemon curd layer as even as possible and make sure that the lemon curd edges are touching the acetate sheet. Place the sheet tray in the refrigerator and move on to making the mousse layer.

Notes:

• One batch of lemon curd will be enough to fill 10 cups of this size.
• Do not wait too long to pipe the lemon curd, as the gelatin will start to set.

White Chocolate Cream Mousse:

Ingredients:

• White Chocolate
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Granulated Sugar

Add 1 cup white chocolate and ¼ cup heavy whipping cream to a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and leave the bowl in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Once you remove the bowl from the microwave, mix the chocolate and the cream together. If there still appears to be pieces of white chocolate that have not been melted, place back in the microwave and heat for an additional 15-20 seconds at a time (stirring in between each heating) until all the white chocolate is completely melted. Set the white chocolate ganache aside to cool and slightly thicken while working on the whipped cream component.

Add ½ cup granulated sugar and 1½ cups heavy whipping cream into a mixing bowl. Briefly whisk the sugar and whipped cream together before using either a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium-high speed to whip the cream to stiff peaks.

By now the ganache should be cooled and a slightly thicker consistency. Add approximately 1/3 of the whipped cream to the ganache mixture. Carefully stir the whipped cream into the ganache, making sure not to stir vigorously because you do not want to deflate the mixture. Once the whipped cream is well incorporated into the ganache, add the next third of whipped cream and repeat this process until all the whipped cream has been incorporated into the ganache mixture.

After all the whipped cream has been folded into the ganache, add the mousse to a piping bag and pipe into the dessert cups. Use a spoon to smooth the mousse layer, just like you did with the lemon curd.

Candy Melt Decoration:

Use a circle fondant/cookie cutter that is approximately 1.75” in diameter and an edible marker to draw circles on a piece of parchment paper. Cut the circles out and lay the paper on top of a second piece of parchment paper. Add approximately 1 cup of yellow Wilton candy melts to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the candy melts for 45 seconds, stir, and then continue to heat in 15-20 second increments until the candy melts are completely melted. Make sure to stir between each heating increment.

Add these candy melts to a piping bag with a small opening cut in the tip. Drizzle the candy melts over each circle and then drizzle the candy melts perpendicular to the direction of the first drizzle. Immediately remove the top parchment paper sheet and allow the candy melts to harden.

Using an offset spatula, gently slide under the circles to release them from the parchment paper. Gently place a circle on top of the mousse layer in each cup.

Your delicious dessert cups are complete and ready to be enjoyed!

Thank you so much for checking out this post! I hope that you give it a try and love it as much as my taste-testers and I did! Please leave any questions or comments below!