Bella Cerise Apricot and Raspberry Frozen Mousse, Martha and Packing Our Bags

Last week was a whirlwind of events and travel. I packed my bags and my little M. and flew out to New York to attend the Martha Stewart Blogger party. It was so fantastic to finally meet editors and fellow bloggers in person and catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while like Amy, Karen, Nole, Maria or Joanna.

One of the highlights was to finally meet Alice, Olga, Jordan and Matt who are also charter members of Martha’s Circle. We were so lucky to have a private tour of their building and offices with access to their test kitchens, prop room (my goodness!!!) and photography studios. Martha herself came out to say hello and more than one shed a tear from sheer excitement.

It was so inspiring and overwhelming to be there with so many creative minds in one room. So many amazing people to meet and greet and express my love to. Yes, I did that. When I am in a room with such energy, I tend to spill my guts out. I was even able to bring M. to the party and she of course, loved all the attention.

I wasn’t able to take any good photos for you, but you can check out Amy’s, Alice’s and Matt’s posts.

We arrived home late Friday night. The house was quiet. Everyone was asleep. M. had crashed on the plane, so when I put her down for the night, I went down to the kitchen. My mind couldn’t relax after all the excitement from the previous days. I started to recall the amazing lunch we had at ABC Kitchen or the caramel crunch doughnut I ate at Babycakes.

Then, I noticed the beautiful red apricots on the dining room table. Belle Cerise apricots. Bright pinkish red skin with bright orange flesh. I ate one and it was juicy like a plum, but tasted just like an apricot. “Perfect“, I thought.

The next morning I woke up to a little boy standing right next to my bed, asking a million questions about my trip, the places I had seen and the people I had met. He remembered Amy and the bakugans. Don’t ask… things only 4 year old boys know about. I peeled the apricots while I listened to the stories about the zoo, raccoons on the loose and all the sea shells gathered at the beach. Priceless.

We made this super creamy apricot and raspberry swirl frozen mousse that was perfect for the hot afternoon. The next day, we made a simple crumble that I flavored with lots of fresh lemon and lemon thyme. If you have not used herbs in your crumble topping yet, you should. Amazing.

This week we leave for Bilbao. I will be traveling with both kids alone. I actually should be packing or at least thinking about packing right now, but for some reason it seems like a daunting task.

We will be home for three weeks. I will be posting photos from our trip with lots of food, I promise. There is always food in the Basque Country. I will also be taping a show for Robin Food, so be sure to stay tuned for that one!

See you soon!

Bella Cerise and Raspberry Swirl Frozen Mousse

3 eggs
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
1/3 cup (100 grams) apricot puree
2 cups (450 ml) heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 1/2 cups (150 grams) raspberries
1 Tbs sugar

Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Puree the raspberries and the sugar and set aside.

Place the eggs, egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Place the bowl over a water bath and whip the eggs and sugar mixture for about 5 minutes until it thickens. Transfer the bowl to the mixer and continue whipping in high speed until the eggs have cooled. It will be thick. Fold in the apricot puree, followed by the soft peak cream.

Transfer the cream to a glass or metal baking dish or small jars. Spoon in some of the raspberry puree and make swirls through the apricot cream with a spoon or wooden skewer.

Transfer to the freezer and serve frozen.