recipe: blood orange mousse

A few weeks ago, we had a few friends over for drinks and dessert, and I was actually at sort of a loss in deciding what to make. I spent way too long the day of the party wandering around the grocery store trying to figure out a fun, original dessert idea, until I stumbled across a bin of blood oranges.

Could it be? Had I somehow found them on one of the two weeks per year that these incredible little fruits are in season? I immediately knew that I had to use them.

Except... one problem. The gorgeous color that's the defining characteristic of these oranges got a little lost in turning them into mousse! When I'd added heavy cream and quite a bit of whipped eggs and sugar, the end product was something much more cream-colored than blood-colored, which was a little disappointing.

The easy solution would be to keep a little wedge of the original oranges as a garnish, but I wondered if you guys had any ideas! How do you preserve color when you're diluting an ingredient? Do you resort to artificial color, or do you choose ingredients with presentation in mind?

Blood Orange Mousse

INGREDIENTS

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

3 blood oranges, juiced

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

DIRECTIONS

Combine the egg yolks and 1/4 sugar and set over a pot of boiling water. Whisk until light and frothy, and until the eggs have reached 120 degrees. Add the salt and blood orange juice and stir until combined. Strain to remove any pieces of egg from the mixture.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg whites with the other 1/4 cup sugar until it has formed soft peaks. Fold together the juice mixture, egg whites and whipped cream, stirring gently until combined. Spoon the mixture into six glasses, and refrigerate for at least four hours.