Roasted Fig Frozen Mousse and Autumn Excitement

I have been daydreaming about autumn… leaves changing color, raspberry red coats, membrillo and figs. I cannot get to any of those at the moment except for the figs, so I have been indulging on them as much as I can, because I know the season is short.

I am going home back to Bilbao at the end of this month and I cannot wait to eat the figs when I get there. I have yet to find figs like those in my uncle’s fig tree in his back yard. Pure sweetness.

I love how light and airy frozen mousses with a pâte à bombe base are. There is air incorporated from whipping the egg yolks and air incorporated from the whipped cream. They are lighter than ice cream or bavarian creams but still have a high fat content which makes them suitable for freezing without too many ice crystals. Just perfect.

When I make pâte à bombe, I always make extra and keep it in the refrigerator or even the freezer for the next time I want to make a quick mousse. This time I had figs that were a bit under ripe so I roasted them with a bit of sugar to make them tender and blended them in the food processor. I left the seeds and skin on because I like a bit of texture in the mousse and because it would take tons of fresh figs to get a small amount of fine puree.

I built the mousses in ring molds, froze them and then cut them in half for a different presentation. It is accompanied by a little quenelle of whipped mascarpone cream and some crumbled chocolate macarons.

Pâte à Bombe

4 oz sugar
1 oz corn syrup
2 oz water
3 egg yolks

Cook the sugar, corn syrup and water to 240 degrees Farenheit. In the meantime, whip the yolks until they turn fluffy and pale. Add the cooked sugar to the yolks while the mixer is on low speed. Pour the sugar on the side of the bowl so you don’t create spun sugar while doing this. Turn the mixer back to high and continue beating until light, thick and the bowl has cooled.

Roasted Figs

Pint of black mission figs

Cut the figs in half and place them on a sheetpan. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top if they seem not sweet enough. Bake at 325F for about 20 minutes. Puree them in a food processor or with a hand held mixer.

Roasted Fig Frozen Mousse

2 oz pâte à bombe
3 grams gelatin leaves (about 1 1/2)
3 oz roasted fig puree
8 oz heavy cream, soft peaks

Soften the gelatin in ice water for 5 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and mix it into the warm fig puree. Add the fig puree to the pâte à bombe and whisk until thoroughly combined. Fold in the whipped cream and pipe into the ring molds. Freeze the molds and serve the mousse slightly frozen.