I generally try not to brag too much on this site, but I really think this recipe was a stroke of genius. I wanted something really light and airy, but still with that awesome mousse texture, and I wanted an extreme vanilla taste.
So, for the first time (which shocks me, because how did I wait this long?!?), I finally bought whole vanilla beans. After watching chefs on TV scrape out the vanilla bean pods dozens of times, I felt pretty confident I could do it myself, and not surprisingly, it was super easy.
And the rest of the recipe was a cinch — it comes together in under half an hour, and then chills for a few hours until you serve it (presuming you can resist digging your fingers in for a taste)! These end up something between a soft meringue and whipped cream, with an extra vanilla punch. And I really can’t emphasize enough how light these are — it’s like eating creamy vanilla-flavored air.
Last, if you haven’t already, remember to go over to the Whole Foods website and write a comment about my Farro with Butternut Squash dish! The recipes have been up for a week with no clear winner yet — click here right now!
Vanilla Bean Mousse
INGREDIENTS:
One Vanilla bean, seeds scraped from the pod
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 cup heavy cream
DIRECTIONS:
Whip heavy cream with vanilla bean seeds and 1/3 cup sugar until soft peaks form (err on the side of slightly overwhipped). Set aside. Next, in a medium mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 1/3 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
Fold together the whipped cream mixture and the egg mixtures (I folded the eggs into the whipped cream). Gently pour into individual serving dishes and refrigerate at least six hours, or overnight. Serve!
Makes 6-8 individual servings.
Like this post? Try these!
caramel mousse
Honey Vanilla Ice Cream
Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Mocha Mousse
Strawberries with Balsamic Whipped Cream
38 responses so far ↓
1 stacey // Oct 2, 2008 at 7:23 am
This looks really great – I just got whole vanilla beans for the first time also and would love to use them in this – are you going to post a recipe?
2 sugarlaw // Oct 2, 2008 at 7:30 am
Gah — my mistake! Recipe is up now!!!
3 ttfn300 // Oct 2, 2008 at 8:16 am
oh wow, that looks just delightful!!
4 Liz Stambaugh // Oct 2, 2008 at 8:50 am
OooOOO that really sounds wonderful!
ps. you are allowed to claim genius every once in awhile.
5 Erin // Oct 2, 2008 at 9:22 am
I’m in love! What a great idea. I may have to break this out as a possible dish for my big annual holiday party this year.
6 Lulu Barbarian // Oct 2, 2008 at 10:02 am
I think it’s safe to brag about this one! It looks delicious.
7 Bridget // Oct 2, 2008 at 11:27 am
Mmmmm….that looks delicious and so comforting!
8 VeggieGirl // Oct 2, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Brag all you want, Katy!! That mousse looks positively MAGNIFICENT!!
9 patsyk // Oct 2, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Looks amazing! I’ve got vanilla beans waiting to be used, but haven’t figured out what recipe I’ll try first!
10 Emily // Oct 2, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Looks fantastic!! I wish I had a bowl in front of me now!!
11 zestycook // Oct 2, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Ummmmm…. WOW I so want a bowl of these right now. awesome recipe… killer pictures… love it!
12 Joanna // Oct 2, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Ooooh this looks so good! I’ve gotta get my hands on a vanilla bean! Maybe you could try steeping the pod in the cream first for an even more intense flavor. Mmmmm.
13 clumbsycookie // Oct 2, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Beautiful! My mom used to make something very similar (not with vanilla bean) but frozen. I’m sure that would be great frozen as well! Looks really airy!
14 Rita // Oct 2, 2008 at 4:24 pm
This mousse looks so good! I also never bought a vanila bean pod. I think they are soooo expensive, so I always use the extract instead.
I commented on you farro recipe, and hope you win!
15 heather // Oct 2, 2008 at 7:53 pm
that looks good! i love when you can see the real flecks of vanilla. after trying vanilla paste and vanilla beans, i will never, ever, ever go back to vanilla extract again!!
16 Whitney // Oct 4, 2008 at 3:21 pm
YUM. I have been wanting to buy some whole beans too. Maybe I will have to try this
17 Kitt // Oct 5, 2008 at 12:34 am
Oh wow. That looks so fabulous! And easy! Two spoonfuls of chocolate mousse is usually enough for me, but I could eat a LOT of this.
18 Marc @ NoRecipes // Oct 5, 2008 at 9:43 pm
That looks truly brag-worthy!
19 Ron Merlin // Oct 7, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Oh Man, I have GOT to try that recipe. Would you mind if I blogged it also on http://themerlinmenu.blogspot.com ?
Also, speaking of beans here’s a link from my blog you might like: http://themerlinmenu.blogspot.com/2008/08/vanilla-beans.html
20 Pixxienix // Oct 10, 2008 at 12:32 am
this looks delectable, but I do try to stay off uncooked eggs :-/ I love mousses though!! By the way, how do you keep your weight off with foods like this? I don’t mind tips, please, if you don’t mind sharing
21 Cathy-wheresmydamnanswer // Oct 13, 2008 at 6:14 pm
OK I am convinced to try this one!! Looks great and the texture just jumps off the screen!!
22 jillian // Oct 13, 2008 at 7:22 pm
This looks beautiful! I love when things are plain unadorned vanilla…so perfect!
23 Ashley // Oct 13, 2008 at 11:30 pm
That looks great! I can’t wait to try it with a warm chocolate dessert!
24 My Sweet & Saucy // Oct 13, 2008 at 11:54 pm
That looks dreamy!
25 Julia // Oct 14, 2008 at 12:19 pm
This looks amazing. I bet it would be great on so many desserts!
26 sara angel // Oct 14, 2008 at 2:55 pm
i loooove vanilla bean anything so this is just like making be drool. it looks so good and the recipe seems so simple!
27 Kevin // Oct 19, 2008 at 7:50 am
That looks good. I like the flecks of the vanilla beans!
28 Sarah // Oct 20, 2008 at 1:08 pm
The mousse is devine. I didn’t have vanilla bean on hand, so instead I put a bit of instant coffee mix into the heavy cream. It turned out wonderfully. Thank you so much for the recipe!!!
29 Travel Turtle // Oct 22, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I’ve never had this experience before. I was looking at the picture and reading your description and then scrolled down to get to the next post. Before that happened, I had this odd taste in my mouth. It was delicious. It tasted like vanilla. Now, my brain tells me I can’t taste a picture I see and description I read on the internet, but I felt like I tasted it. It looks amazingly delicious. Thanks for sharing.
30 sevenbeat // Feb 15, 2009 at 9:10 am
I prepared the recipe yesterday and I ate it today. It was sweet, light, and creamy-ish. A very nice variant of mousse if I ever did taste but I never tasted a lot of mousse in my life. But I couldn’t eat it all at once since it was too sweet, so I guess it wasn’t made to be eaten all at once. Anyway, it was great and I will make it again sometime in the near future! Thanks for the recipe!
31 Aoi // Feb 22, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I have to say, I made this recipe and then put it on top of a vanilla bean cheesecake, and it was out of this world! Such an awesome recipe, the mousse really made the cheesecake! Thanks so much for the recipe! <3
32 The Daily Eat: Vanilla Bean Mousse. | liveurway // Mar 29, 2009 at 6:36 pm
[...] and airy as well as intensely vanilla, this Vanilla Bean Mousse takes under thirty minutes to prepare and looks like it took an hour. Serve and [...]
33 Vanilla Mousse « Delectable Endeavors // Nov 25, 2009 at 9:58 pm
[...] Now, I must admit, this is not my recipe. This is from the food blogger, Sugarlaws. You can find her original recipe here. [...]
34 Vanilla Mousse « Delectable Endeavors // Nov 25, 2009 at 9:58 pm
[...] Now, I must admit, this is not my recipe. This is from the food blogger, Sugarlaws. You can find her original recipe here. [...]
35 Daring Baker’s November Challenge « The Reluctant Chef // Nov 27, 2009 at 6:47 am
[...] Eggnog Mousse Adapted from Katy at Sugarlaws.com [...]
36 Brandon Perez // May 11, 2010 at 5:23 pm
OMG this one sounds and looks better then then one im using for my senior exhibition. Definitely replacing my menu recipe with this one! Thanks!
37 Ronnie // May 18, 2010 at 3:24 am
well I am not seeing the steeping the vanilla pods with the cream,first.Though you,s could very make some vanilla sugar with the left over vanilla pod.use 2 cups sugar along with the pod.keep in a closed contanier for about a week or longer.The longer the better.PLus it does keep for a long time.
38 gianna // Jun 9, 2010 at 8:51 am
My kids will love this! I’m also going to try using cinnamon. Maybe both at one time.
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