Here is Lestat my great-nephew, showing our dinner party guests just how much muscle it takes to whip a mousse.  Lestat created an Orange Vanilla Mousse.  It’s light, fluffy, moderately sweet and rich, every thing a “Mousse” could want.   We tried to make it without any added sweetener, but found balance with just 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup in both the pudding and the whip cream.  That’s only 1/2  tablespoon per servings, still very low sugar.  The orange juice was cooked down a bit, which counts as sugar too, but it’s still low.  Lestat also made three beautiful trays of Paleo Orange Slice Candy dipped in dark chocolate to accompany the mousse.

Orange Vanilla Mousse

• juice of 3 fresh oranges
• 4 eggs room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 vanilla bean pod
• 1/8 teaspoon unrefined sea salt plus more for egg whites
• 3 tablespoons Maple syrup, divided

Bring eggs to room temperature. Juice oranges.  Simmer juice until reduced by half.  Separate egg yolks and whites.  Use caution to make sure none of the yolk gets into the whites.  Simmer a pan of water, set up so a heat proof bowel can sit on top with out touching the water.  As shown in the 4th picture.  Remove seeds from vanilla  bean.  Whip cream, adding vanilla seeds and 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of Maple syrup.  Set aside.   Whip egg whites with a pinch of salt to form soft peaks.  Set aside.  Mix egg yolks, 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of Maple syrup and salt.  Set over pan of simmering water.  Use a wire whisk on yolks off-and-on at first, but constant as it heats up and begins to thicken.  If yolks clump, press them through a sieve.   When thick enough to hold a bit on the whisk or a spoon, remove from stove top.  Gently fold in the fluffed egg whites.  About 1/3 at a time.  Reserve 1/4 of the whipped cream for topping.  Add the rest, again gently folding in 1/3 at a time.  Cover and chill for 1 hour or more.  We served ours in wide mouth wine glasses topped with a bit of the vanilla whip cream. Makes 6 servings.  Enjoy!

Recommended:

• Fresh organic, nonGMO, oranges.
• Fresh back yard free range chicken eggs.
• Raw, or only pasteurized cream.  From pastured grass fed cows.  Organic, nonGMO, not treated with antibiotics or hormones.
• Real vanilla bean
• Unrefined sea salt
• Organic Maple syrup, nonGMO, grade B best