Home RecipesDesserts Lucuma Mousse with Brownies and Chocolate Sauce

Lucuma Mousse with Brownies and Chocolate Sauce

by Lorena

Lucuma mousse is one of my favourites. The lucuma fruit is already creamy on its own. This lucuma mousse with brownies and chocolate sauce is fantastic. Lucuma and chocolate is really the perfect pairing in a dessert.

If you don’t know what lucuma is, it’s a spectacular fruit that grows mostly in Perú but also in Ecuador, Chile and Colombia. It’s orange inside and soooo creamy when it’s ripe. Its flavour is really particular and hard to describe but I think it’s between a sweet pumpkin, chestnuts and maple syrup. In Perú you can easily find it in markets or even supermarkets as well. Here in Santiago, I got it as frozen pulp and it works perfectly. In other countries, you can find it frozen as well or also as lucuma powder. To use the powder what you need to do is hydrate it first following the instructions on the packaging. Then you treat that hydrated powder as the pulp.

In general, I don’t like to use gelatin if I can help it. I don’t like the texture it creates. To thicken this lucuma mousse I used a technique called pâté à bombe where you beat egg yolks and cook them with syrup. The result is a really foamy mix that finishes to thicken up in the fridge for the perfect mousse texture. This is the same technique that I use for my chocolate mousse.


At a certain point in time, there was a BOOM of lucuma and chocolate desserts in Lima. Every restaurant had a lucuma + chocolate combo in a dessert on the menu. I ate so much lucuma at that point that I was actually sick of it for a while, lol. Now that time has passed, though, and I love it once again. This dessert is inspired by one that was sold in a store called “Casa Gourmet” in Lima that had this lucuma mousse with brownies and chocolate sauce. It was called “lucuma earthquake” there. It was delicious but SO EXPENSIVE! Lol. So this is my version :).

For the brownies, I used my dark chocolate brownies but only half a recipe. You could do the same thing using my fudgy gooey brownie recipe that uses cocoa powder instead. The flavour is almost the same but the dark chocolate ones get this lovely papery texture on top. The cocoa powder ones also have a crust on top, but not like this one.


lucuma mousse

Lucuma Mousse with Brownies and Chocolate Sauce

5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Medium
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6 people
Author: Lorena Salinas from Cravings Journal

Ingredients

For the chocolate sauce

  • 75 g whipping cream between 30 and 34% fat
  • 40 g sugar
  • 40 g dark chocolate I used 70% cacao

For the mini brownies

  • 75 g unsalted butter
  • 120 g sugar
  • 70 g dark chocolate I used 70% cacao
  • ½ tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 egg cold, straight from the fridge
  • 35 g all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Para el mousse de lúcuma

  • 200 g whipping cream between 30 and 34% fat
  • 350 g lucuma pulp
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 80 g water
  • 80 g sugar

Instructions

For the chocolate sauce

  • Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between. Alternatively, you can do in on a bain-marie over low heat.
  • Heat up the cream and sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly and stop when the sugar has dissolved completely and steam is coming out of the cream. Don't let it break into a boil.
  • Add the cream to the chocolate and mix using a spatula until completely incorporated.
  • Let it cool down completely before assembling the dessert or the mousse will melt.

For the mini brownies

  • Cut the butter in cubes and place it in a bowl where you're then going to beat it. Also, place the chocolate and sugar in there. Make sure that the water isn't touching the base of the bowl.
  • Once completely melted remove it from the fire and wait for it to cool down until it's only warm.
  • Beat the mix and add the vanilla essence and egg. Beat it until completely incorporated and from then 2 extra minutes on high speed. Alternatively, you can do it by hand, you will need about 75 stirring movements.
  • Add the flour and salt and beat for 2 more minutes on high speed. These beating times will give un the papery texture on top.
  • Place baking paper in a 20x20cm / 7.7×7.7in mould and fill it with the batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C / 350°F for 15min.
  • Once cold remove the brownie from the mould and cut it in really small squares.

For the lucuma mousse

  • Make sure that the sauce and brownies are at room temperature before starting with the mousse.
  • Beat the cream until you reach chantilly stage. It should look soft and cloud-like. Keep the cream in the fridge where it will get extra consistency while we go on with the rest of the recipe.
  • Soften the lucuma pulp with the back of a fork before starting. If you fell it's a bit fibrous you can pass it through a colander afterwards.
  • Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and make it boil over medium-low heat. You want to see it in a real rolling boil!
  • When the syrup is about to boil start beating the egg yolks at high speed. Add the syrup down the side of the bowl so it doesn't touch the whisk. Keep beating on high speed until the mix completely cools down. It should look lovely and foamy. This technique of syrup-cooked egg yolks is called a "pâté à bombe".
  • Add ⅓ of the egg yolk mix to the lucuma pulp and mix with a spatula. Then add this to the rest of the yolks and use a spatula and folding motions to mix it in.
  • Add the cream and also fold it together.

To assemble

  • You can use small glasses or a large translucent dish.
  • Make layers of mousse and others of sauce and brownies. Finish with sauce and brownies.
  • Let the dessert thicken in the fridge for 6 hours at least before serving.
Tried this recipe?Mention @CravingsJournal or tag #RecipeCJ!

1 comment

Pilar Chicchon Mahl March 12, 2022 - 1:42 pm

Have you ever made Lucuma Ice cream? I have Lucuma powder & also frozen Lucuma pulp. I live in the US but was born in Lima and miss my FAVORITE Ice cream!?

Reply

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