This divine lemon mousse is light as a cloud and deliciously tangy. Lemon lovers will be in heaven after the first spoonful. It's a wonderful make-ahead dessert - serve it in fancy stemmed glasses for a special meal, or make it in mason jars or empty jam jars to take along on a summer picnic, like we did. Read on to find our fun-filled tips (and menu) for a 'Fun & Games' picnic. It's a great idea for a memorable family outing in a park or even in your own back yard.
Summertime is picnic time, and even if it's the end of summer, it's always a great idea to get out into a park or other beautiful outdoor location with some good food and good friends to have some good fun. We got together again with our picnic-partners-in-crime, Nicoletta and Loreto (of the blog SugarLoveSpices) to have a fantastic picnic in Emily Murphy park in Edmonton. We collaborated as usual to come up with a delicious portable menu (for us food bloggers, that's the fun part), packed up whatever outdoor games we had between us, and loaded up the vehicles on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
We used a vintage quilt (with an old plastic tablecloth underneath to protect it from the grass) as our tablecloth. Its bright pastel colours were the inspiration for our melamine dishes, linens, and serving pieces. Lots of colourful cushions collected from our homes made our little corner in the park a comfortable place to lounge and enjoy our wonderful picnic.
FUN & GAMES PICNIC MENU
Radish and Chive Dip with Baguette Slices
Colourful Veggie Turkey Wraps
Nectarine Tomato Salad
Lemon Mousse in Jam Jars with Fresh Berries
Crunchy Nut Meringue Cookies
Watermelon Rose Agua Fresc
Lemon Mousse and Other Tasty Picnic Foods
This picnic menu is a wonderful celebration of summer deliciousness and has the added bonus of traveling well, being easy to eat, and can all be made ahead. The simple cream-cheese-based Radish & Chive Dip is fresh, light, crunchy and creamy. It is so tasty spread on slices of baguette, crackers, or served as a dip with fresh vegetables.
Nicoletta and Loreto made the Colourful Veggie Turkey Wraps - with satisfying layers of deli roast turkey, havarti cheese, and crunchy and colourful julienned carrots and shredded red cabbage rolled in spelt wraps with a dab of mayo and a handful of dressed, mixed salad greens (you can use gluten-free wraps of your choice instead). Their Nectarine Tomato Salad is fresh and vibrant with ripe tomatoes, sweet and tangy nectarines, feta cheese, and pecans. We sipped on freshly made Watermelon Rose Agua Fresca - so thirst-quenching.
For dessert, we devoured this most divine Lemon Mousse. Prepared in empty jam jars, it was easy to transport to the picnic, and everyone had their own individual portion. I brought along some of my stabilized whipped cream in a small Tupperware container and fresh berries from the garden to top it off, then added the toppings at the picnic. I baked my Crunchy Nut Meringue Cookies to eat alongside (recipe coming).
Conversation ceased, and we were all in heaven as we scraped up every last bit of that delightfully tangy lemon mousse. It's fluffy and creamy, silky-smooth; every mouthful melting on your tongue, as light as air. It's got intense lemon flavour to satisfy all the lemon lovers out there, but its bright puckeriness is balanced with just enough sweetness to make you come back for spoonful after spoonful.
This is one killer lemon mousse (and it's so easy to make, too). I love its versatility - you can make it in fancy stemmed glasses to serve after a special dinner, or pack it into empty jam jars to take along anywhere. It's a keeper!
Fun & Games Picnic Activities
After all that delicious eating and drinking, it was time to get moving. We worked off our dinner with lots of running, jumping, games, craziness, and some good competitive fun.
Pack your favourite outdoor games, ones that are easy to transport and work well within the space where your picnic will be held. Be mindful if there will be other people around. (Look for these games on sale at the end of the season and be ready for next year!) Some ideas are:
- badminton
- croquet
- frisbee
- bocce ball
- ladderball
- corn hole
- scoop ball
- ring toss
- horseshoes
Other ideas are to have a group water fight (bring towels!), play tag, flag football, soccer, blind man's bluff, or have simple races (like sack races, egg & spoon races, three-legged races). You could even play group games in teams like Charades, Pictionary, or Trivial Pursuit.
Bring extra activities for kids to keep them keen and interested once the large group games are finished. Ideas are bug nets (find them at dollar stores) and jars with holes in the lids for bug collecting (let the critters go again before going home), pool noodles and beach balls for easy batting and volleying of balls, bubbles and a variety of bubble-making wands, and crayons & colouring books, simple crafts, books or board games for when the energy wanes.
Back to the Tasty Lemon Mousse - What You'll Need to Make It
You'll need just a few ingredients. Soften a bit of gelatin in water. Add the sugar, lemon zest & juice, salt, and egg yolks, and cook up a simple lemon curd. Cool it, and fold it together with some softly whipped cream. Spoon the fluffy mixture into fancy dishes or clean jam jars. When it sets, you'll have luscious lemon mousse.
- unflavoured powdered gelatin - use packaged gelatin (like Knox® brand) or buy it loose in bulk food stores or health food stores (cheaper than the packages)
- sugar - granulated (or natural evaporated cane sugar)
- fine sea salt
- lemons (4 to 5) - use organic lemons if possible, since you'll be grating the zest of one of them. You'll need enough juice from the lemons to equal to ⅔ cup (160 ml)
- 4 large egg yolks (you can freeze the whites and use them in other recipes - see below)
- whipping cream/heavy cream - for the lemon mousse, plus more for serving
- fresh berries of your choice
The recipe makes 8 servings, but the extras will keep for 5 to 6 days in your fridge - a little stash of treasures to treat yourself with!
Recipes to Use Up Extra Egg Whites
- Strawberry Meringue Pie
- Angel Food Cake
- Classic Pavlova
- Lemon Coconut Mini Pavlovas
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pavlova Cake
- Pumpkin Spice Pavlova
Picnic Time is the Best Time
We hope you are inspired to get outside and enjoy the sunshine (with a little competitive gaming thrown into the mix)! Head over to SugarLoveSpices for their recipes and photos of our picnic day.
See our other picnics for some great recipes and picnic inspiration:
- Coronation Chicken Salad Sandwiches and a Perfect Afternoon Tea Picnic
- Gluten-Free Sausage Rolls and a Glorious Autumn Picnic
- Homemade Tomato Soup and a Late Fall Picnic by the Lake
- Gluten Free Victoria Sponge Cake and a Lovely Summer Afternoon Tea Picnic
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This lemon mousse recipe has been slightly adapted from 'American Girl Tea Parties: Delicious Sweets & Savory Treats to Share' by Weldon Owen.
Lemon Mousse
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (60 ml) water
- 2¼ teaspoons (1 packet/7 g) unflavoured powdered gelatin
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar + 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- zest of one lemon, finely grated (2 to 3 teaspoons)
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) fresh lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)
- 2 cups (480 ml) whipping cream/heavy cream plus extra for garnish, if desired
- 2 cups (1 pint/225 g) fresh berries of your choice, optional for topping each mousse
Instructions
- Pour the water into a medium saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top of it and leave it to soak until the gelatin swells, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the 1 cup (200 g) of sugar, salt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg yolks to the softened gelatin in the saucepan and whisk to combine them.
- Set the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the gelatin dissolves and the custard thickens slightly, coating the back of a spoon - do not let it come to a boil or it may curdle. This will take 5 to 8 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool completely, stirring it occasionally. You can speed up the process by setting the pan into a bowl about half-full of ice water (don't let any of the water spill over into the custard).
- Beat the cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl until the cream is whipped to soft peaks. Fold the cooled lemon custard into the whipped cream gently, using a silicone spatula, until no streaks remain.
- Spoon the mousse into 8 parfait glasses or cleaned, empty jam jars and cover each with plastic food wrap or their lids. Refrigerate the mousse until it is set, at least 3 hours or overnight.
- To serve the mousse, top each serving with a spoonful of additional whipped cream and a generous portion of fresh berries.
Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli
What a lovely, delicious and fun afternoon we had! Good food, good friends and games. Can't wait for our next picnic adventures!
Margaret
It was SO much fun! We loved every minute of it! I love planning the picnics, preparing the food and packing things up, and sharing the whole experience with you guys. This picnic was especially fun with all the games and laughter. Yes, definitely looking forward to the next one. 😍