Bananas blended with orange juice and brown sugar, folded into whipped cream and chilled. No gelatine, no eggs and no cooking.
Everything cold
Cream whips because the fat globules in it are solid enough to trap air. Warm cream has soft fat and will not hold, however long you beat it.
Cold cream from the fridge, and if the kitchen is warm, a cold bowl and cold beaters help too. This is the single reason a mousse fails to thicken.
Soft peaks, not stiff
Stop when the cream holds its shape loosely and the peak flops over at the tip. It gets thickened further by the banana purée going in, and by the folding.
Whipped to stiff peaks first, the mixture ends up dense rather than airy, and over-whipped cream separates into butter and buttermilk, which cannot be undone.
Fold, do not stir
The whole point of whipping is the air, and stirring takes it straight back out. Use a spatula, cut down through the middle, lift, turn the bowl and repeat.
Stop as soon as the colour is even. A few streaks are better than a deflated mousse.
The orange juice does two jobs
It adds acidity, which stops four bananas and two spoonfuls of sugar from being cloying. And it slows the browning of the banana purée, which otherwise goes grey within the hour it spends in the fridge.
The riper the better
Bananas with black skins are ideal here. They are sweeter, they blend smoother, and their appearance stops mattering the moment they go into the blender. This is a good recipe for the ones nobody wants to eat.
More desserts
- Banana cake — for the same overripe bananas.
- Grape dessert — with gelatine.
- Strawberry cream dessert — set in glasses.
- Banana split — the other banana one.
Banana Mousse FAQ
It is too warm. Cream whips because its fat is solid enough to trap air, and warm cream has soft fat that will not hold. Use it straight from the fridge, and chill the bowl and beaters too if the kitchen is warm.
Soft. The banana purée and the folding thicken it further, so cream whipped stiff first gives a dense mousse. Over-whipped cream also separates into butter, which cannot be undone.
Because stirring knocks out the air that the whipping put in. Cut down with a spatula, lift, turn the bowl, and stop as soon as the colour is even. A few streaks are better than a flat mousse.
Two things. It adds acidity, which keeps four bananas and the sugar from being cloying, and it slows the browning of the banana purée during the hour in the fridge.
Very. Black-skinned bananas are ideal: sweeter, smoother to blend, and their appearance stops mattering once they are puréed. This is a good use for the ones nobody wants to eat.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 bananas (very ripe: the browner the better for flavour)
- 300 ml heavy cream (cold, straight from the fridge, or it will not whip)
- ¼ cup orange juice (keeps the banana from browning as well as adding flavour)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (one for the cream, one for the banana)
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract (optional)
Notas
Instructions
- Pour the cold cream into a bowl with a spoonful of the sugar and start whipping, with a hand whisk or beaters, until it holds soft peaks.
- Peel and chop the bananas and put them in the blender or food processor with the rest of the sugar, the orange juice and the vanilla. Blend to a purée.
- Add the banana purée to the cream and fold it in gently until the mixture is even.
- Spoon it into moulds, glasses or bowls and refrigerate for an hour before serving.
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