Two Melon Mousse

I had lukewarm feelings towards this dessert when I first thought of it. I wanted a perfect, light dessert to welcome Spring to Sydney. The flowers are blooming and my hayfever is starting to kick in so Spring has definitely sprung. So the idea of a melon-filled dessert with it's brightly coloured layers sounded very appealing. But it wasn't until I made this that I really fell in love with it. I think one of the main reasons is that I've always had a thing for melon balls. There's something so wonderfully retro about it. I always wanted my Mum to make melon balls but she never did because she must have considered it a totally impractical way to serve melon which creates a lot of wasted leftover melon flesh (she was totally right by the way, but I still love them).

I have to tell you, this is the fastest dessert I've ever seen A eat. As soon as he tasted the mousse that we were sharing he turned to me and said, "Go get your own glass so I can have this one to myself." This increased my love for the dessert by about a thousand percent, since these days it's nearly impossible to get A to taste test my desserts, let alone eat a whole serve.

The mousse is airy and a great light way to finish off a heavy meal. I would definitely recommend piling lots of fresh melon over the top as it's lovely to get the crunch of fresh melon with mouthfuls of fluffy mousse. I was originally going to include a rockmelon flavoured layer but decided against it, but there's nothing stopping you from adding another layer, or changing the fruit puree in each of the layers to whatever fruit you like. It's so easy and delicious, I've already promised A I will make it again soon.

Honeydew & Watermelon Mousse
(adapted from this recipe, serves 4-6 people)
For the watermelon mousse:
1 cup (250ml) watermelon puree (I used approx 1/8 of a watermelon, rind removed, chopped and pulsed in food processor until smooth)
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatine
1/8 cup cold water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cold pouring cream

For the honeydew mousse:
1 cup (250ml) honeydew puree (I used approx 1/4 of a ripe honeydew, rind removed, chopped and pulsed in food processor until smooth)
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatine
1/8 cup cold water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cold pouring cream

Prepare the watermelon mousse first; place gelatine and cold water in a small bowl to allow the gelatine to soften. Place watermelon puree in a medium saucepan with sugar and lemon juice and heat on low until the sugar dissolves completely. Add softened gelatine to the mixture, heat and stir until the gelatine dissolves completely. Remove from the heat and chill mixture in fridge until it reaches around room temperature and is starting to thicken. Whip cream in a large mixing bowl to soft peaks. Add vanilla to watermelon mixture and then fold whipped cream until all the lumps are removed. Pour into 4-6 individual serving glasses and chill in the fridge until set, at least 45 mins.

Prepare the honeydew mousse; repeat same steps for watermelon mousse but with honeydew puree. Pour over the top of set watermelon mousse and chill until set or overnight. To serve, top with fresh watermelon and honeydew pieces.