Dulce de Leche Mousse – Rich dulce de leche custard is folded into fresh whipped cream to make a light and fluffy sweet treat
Happy Valentine’s Day!
On this magical, chocolate-filled holiday, you’d think I’d have something ultra-decadent to share with you all. And you’d be right!
But it’s not something chocolatey. Nope. But I promise you – it’s just as rich.
I present to you my Dulce de Leche Mousse!
What is Dulce de Leche?
Dulce de leche looks like caramel and even tastes like it. But the biggest difference between the two is that dulce de leche is made from heating sweetened condensed milk until it’s caramelized, whereas caramel stars with burnt sugar and THEN adding the cream and butter to make a sauce.
Dulce de leche is very popular in South America, which is how I came to learn about it. My parents grew up in Colombia and my mom especially loved dulce de leche. We never made desserts with it, however. She would purchase desserts made with it or just eat it on it’s own.
To honor my heritage (and also to discover new ways to introduce this treat to the world), I decided to develop a fun, and easy way to enjoy dulce de leche at home. Since mousse is one of the easiest desserts you can make, it was such an obvious choice.
How is Dulce de Leche Mousse made?
This mousse is made by first making a dulce de leche custard and then folding in fresh whipped cream to make it light and fluffy. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes and then you just need to chill the mousse.
I just purchase the dulce de leche already made and then just use it to make a custard – you can find it in the same aisle as the evaporated and condensed milk. But you can even go as far to make your own dulce de leche if you wanted. I found this great recipe from Serious Eats to make your own, if that’s what you want to do.
Tips and tricks
This recipe is simple, quick, and has few ingredients. But there are a couple things that could hang you up in the process. Here are some tips to make sure you get through it without a hitch:
- Making custard is a simple process but if you’re not paying attention to the mixture as it’s heating, it can quickly go from thick to chunky and begin to curdle. So do not take your eyes of it and make sure your constantly stirring it as it thickens.
- The thicker you whip the cream, the thicker the mousse will be. I beat the cream in the pictures just until slightly stiff peaks formed so the mousse was lighter. But I think it would also taste great with stiffer peaks. Just decide which consistency your looking for and adjust accordingly. I don’t recommend soft peaks, however. This will make your mousse wayyy too runny.
- The custard is much easier to fold into the whipped cream when it’s warm or room temperature. Do not chill the custard before folding into the whipped cream or it won’t mix well and you’ll deflate the whipped cream trying to combine them.
I hope you enjoy this V-Day treat. What goodies are you making today? I wanna hear about it! Let me know in the comments below!
Dulce de Leche Mousse
Ingredients
- 7 dry ounces dulce de leche
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cup heavy cream divided
- cocoa powder for garnish
Instructions
- Add egg yolks and sugar to a small bowl and whip them together until pale yellow. Add 1/4 cup of heavy cream to a small sauce pan and heat on low until it's hot.
- Very slowly, whisk hot cream into whipped yolks. Pour mixture back into sauce pan and continue to heat and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.
- In a separate medium bowl, add dulce de leche. Place a mesh sieve over the bowl and pour hot egg mixture through the sieve. Mix together until completely combined. Set aside.
- Add remaining 1 cup of cream into bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium until stiff peaks form. Gently fold 1/3 of whipped cream into dulce de leche mixture. Add another 1/3 of whipped cream and fold gently. Fold in remaining 1/3 of whipped cream.
- Spoon mousse into 4 different ramekins or bowls. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours or until chilled. Finish with a dust of cocoa powder and serve.
Pin for later:
More treats that you’ll love:
Warm Banana Pudding
Traditional English Trifle
Chocolate Raspberry Mousse
Looks yummy!
OMG this looks amazing! I love mouse and I love Dulce De Leche.. so I know I would love this. I can’t wait to try it!
Oh wow! This looks incredibly indulgent and I want to eat it all!
This looks so over-the-top delicious. So rich and creamy, and beautiful. I absolutely adore dulce de leche, and the mere thought of making it into a custard, and then adding the whipped cream makes my mouth water.
This mouse recipe looks so delicious and I love that it is pretty simple to make! Perfect dessert for entertaining!
The mousse to die for – what a texture! And I love the quality of the photos – so sharp and clean. I will need to recreate this recipe for its lightness – something you don’t see too often in dulce de leche custards!
Dulce de Leche is one of my absolute favorite things! I would devour all of this mousse!
This looks so delicious and I love learning more about dulce de leche
I’ve never actually tried Dulce de leche, I don’t think is very popular in italy but that mousse looks amazing
I love a good mousse but have never been able to make one. This doesn’t look too hard! Thanks for the recipe!