Month-of-Mini-Desserts: Blue Cheese Citrus Mousse with Roasted Blueberries

Sometimes we like sweet desserts and other times one that's tart or even slightly savory. Today’s dessert is unlike any you have tasted, I’ll bet. The lightly sweetened whipped cream combines with blue cheese, orange, and roasted blueberries not only to challenge the taste buds but also create smooth, crunchy, and chewy textures in each bite.

If you are interested in the original recipe, I greatly adapted this recipe for Goat Cheese Mousse with Roasted Blueberries.

Blue Cheese Citrus Mousse with Roasted Blueberries (3 half-pint jars) 

1 cup blueberries

4.4 ounce package of blue cheese
1 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar, divided

1 tablespoon orange juice

zest of one orange, divided

3 tablespoons sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 400° degrees.

Place blue cheese in a medium size bowl so it warms to room temperature.

Line a baking pan with sides with parchment paper.

Spread blueberries on baking sheet and roast for four minutes. Shake the pan to turn blueberries. Return to oven for four more minutes. Repeat until blueberries are roasted (about 12-16 minutes). Let cool on pan. Once they burst, they don't roll, so turn with a tool.

With electric mixer, beat cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

Fold the orange juice and half the orange zest into the whipped cream mixture.

Put remaining sugar in with the blue cheese and mix to combine.

Put half of whipped cream mixture in with blue cheese and mix until smooth.

Gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the blue cheese mixture.

Refrigerate for at least one hour. Put one cup of the whipped cream and cheese mixture in each of the three jars. Top with ½ tablespoon almonds and 1/6 of the blueberries per jar.

Repeat layers. Top with remaining orange zest. Refrigerate with cap and ring until ready to serve.

NOTE: I'm not at all sure why you roast the blueberries as it didn't seem to make any difference in taste or texture of any cooked blueberry. AND it was a mess. Next time I would just use fresh, not roasted, blueberries.

DH’s RATING: 3.5 Tongues Up

He didn’t like the tart-savory flavor so much. He agreed it was savory, salty, and slightly sweet and had a variety of textures, but it wasn’t his favorite dessert this month. He would have liked it sweeter. Maybe I should have put a chocolate sauce on it. He won’t be asking me to make this one again.