I am uncomfortable with clutter. Yet, somehow, an old, handwritten cookbook of mine has escaped my ruthless tidying. (Marie Kondo has nothing on me.) The blue-linen spine has gone to a better place, the lined pages are now held together with cotton thread, Sellotape and smears of what I hope is chocolate mousse. Its pages smell pleasingly of vanilla.
It was rather like finding an old friend (it must be 30 years if it’s a day) and took me on a trip through chocolate roulades and spinach quiches, coq au vin and flapjacks, hazelnut meringue cake and coronation chicken.
Among the duckling à l’orange and pâté de Campagne were some gems, including one for a light and refreshingly sharp lemon mousse. I can’t remember the last time I made or even ate a lemon mousse. Come to think of it, any mousse at all. Such trifles seem to have been ousted in favour of tarts and possets.
I made the mousse. I had forgotten the squidgy feel of the softened gelatine in my fingers, the tender folding of the clouds of beaten egg whites into the lemon base, the tell-tale fingerprint on the surface as you test, impatiently, to see if your handiwork has set. (Forgotten, too, the endless, endless bowls to be washed up.)
After much tinkering, I decided to use the mousse, firmed a little with cream cheese, as the heart of a cheesecake. There was a good cucumber soup in the book, too, chock-a-block with herbs, to serve with sizzling crab cakes. That’s a bit of clutter I’ll happily live with.
Lemon cream-cheese mousse cake
Toasted, flaked almonds add a welcome note of crispness to the base of a cheesecake and lighten the crust. My feeling is that the base should be delicate and barely there, so I avoid pressing the crumbs into the cake tin too firmly, as it tends to compact the mixture.
Serves 8
For the crust:
flaked almonds 70g
plain biscuits 150g, such as Nice or Marie
butter 65g
For the mousse:
eggs 4, medium
caster sugar 150g
lemons 2, large
gelatine 5 sheets (9g)
double cream 250ml
full-fat cream cheese 250g
rose petals a handful
You will also need a round 20-22cm cake tin with a removable base, lined on the base with a disc of baking parchment.
In a dry, shallow pan, toast the flaked almonds until golden, then remove from the heat. Crush the biscuits to fine crumbs, either in a plastic freezer bag with a rolling pin, or using a food processor.
Melt the butter, then add the crumbs and flaked almonds, and mix thoroughly. Transfer the mixture to the lined cake tin, pressing it in a thin layer over the base. Chill for an hour.
Separate the eggs. Put the whites in a large mixing bowl. Beat the yolks and sugar together using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment until thick and pale. Grate the lemons finely, then add the zest to the yolk mix.
Juice the lemons – you will need 125ml. Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cool water. Warm the lemon juice in a small saucepan and remove from the heat. Lift the softened gelatine from the water (it should be a soft, quivery mass, only just solid enough to pick up) and drop it into the warm juice. Stir until it is dissolved.
Add the cream cheese to the yolk-and-sugar mixture, beating until completely smooth, then add the lemon juice and gelatine. Whip the cream until it’s thick enough to sit in soft waves (not quite thick enough to stand in stiff peaks), then fold gently into the mixture. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold them in carefully and thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into the chilled cake tin (it should come almost to the top), then cover tightly with kitchen film and chill overnight. (Make sure you don’t have anything garlicky in the fridge – mousse-type dishes will pick up the scent overnight.)
The next day, run a warm palette knife around the edge of the cake to release it from the edges, then remove it carefully from the tin. Decorate with the rose petals.
Note that the cake is wobbly and fragile, so keep it chilled until you intend to serve it, and use a cake slice to serve it.
Chilled cucumber soup with spiced crab cakes
A light, sharp and herbaceous soup for a bright spring day. Serve thoroughly chilled and in small amounts, perhaps with some dark rye bread.
Serves 3-4
cucumber 350g
yogurt 450ml
single cream 125ml
garlic 1, small clove
white-wine tarragon vinegar 2 tbsp
gherkin 1, or cornichons 3
mint leaves 12, chopped
dill 6 sprigs, chopped
parsley 2 tbsp, chopped
For the crab cakes (makes 8):
mixed white and brown crabmeat 200g
breadcrumbs 125g, fresh
egg 1, beaten
hot chillies 2, small, chopped
coriander 1 small handful
flour 3 tbsp
olive oil for frying
Lightly peel the cucumber, removing only the very tough outer skin. Slice in half lengthways then scrape out and discard the seeds and pulp from the centre. Coarsely grate the flesh using a hand grater or a food processor fitted with the coarsest grater attachment.
Put the yogurt and single cream in a mixing bowl, beat gently until smooth and creamy, then stir in the grated cucumber. Peel and crush the garlic clove then add it to the yogurt together with the white-wine tarragon vinegar. Chop the gherkin finely, stir into the soup with the chopped mint, dill and parsley, then season with salt and pepper. Cover with kitchen film and chill thoroughly.
Mix all the ingredients for the crab cakes together, then press into 8 small discs. Fry gently in a little oil until crisp on both sides, then slide on to the soup as you serve.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
