The flavor of salted honey is how the Salted Honey Mousse with Rhubarb Compote recipe came to be for this post. Kyle became enamored with the salted honey flavor while vacationing in London, the very same place where his favorite grilled cheese is located, The Borough Market.
Just behind the Kappacasein, the home of the dreamy grilled cheese, lives the Bread Ahead Bakery. The bakery is known for their Crème Caramel and Salted Honeycomb Donut, which is a deep-fried doughnut rolled in sugar, filled with a salted caramel pastry cream, then topped with pieces of salted honeycomb.
Well, Kyle was in heaven. The wonder of the salted-honey combination, which tasted like salted caramel, also had the floral sweetness of honey. It was a revelation for him; he could not wait to work to incorporate it into a dessert back home.
However, the thought of having to recreate deep-fried doughnuts was not very appealing. Deep-frying doughnuts are definitely a treat deemed more delicious when someone else makes them for you. For Kyle, the thought of deep-frying doughnuts and piping them full of pastry cream just seemed like a project much too messy to undertake at home.
About a month or so after his return from London, Kyle ended up at one of his favorite dinner spots. He had a friend visiting for the weekend and they ended up at Barbuzzo – home to the Salted Caramel Budino. This luscious, sweet-and-salty layered pudding treat is what makes this restaurant a must-visit foodie spot in Philadelphia. In fact, it was this very dessert that inspired a pumpkin version of the Budino in the infancy of this very blog. While diving into the Salted Caramel Budino at Barbuzzo, Kyle discovered the perfect vessel for the salted honey flavor combination.
After being reunited with his precious Salted Caramel Budino, it hit him – this dessert would be delicious re-imagined as a Salted Honey Budino. His idea was to go minimalist, swap out the homemade pudding with a simple salted honey mousse. The mousse was made by folding together the honey, cream cheese and whipped cream.
This dessert was a great way to take advantage of the bountiful array of spring produce. Kyle made a Rhubarb Red Wine Compote to layer with the mousse. However, if you wish to go even more minimalist, fresh raspberries or sliced strawberries would pair nicely with the mousse.
The budino at Barbuzzo has layers of chocolate cookie crumbs to complement the salted caramel. In order to create a better pairing with the rhubarb and make digestively-challenged dessert lovers out there EXTRA grateful, he decided to use gluten free vanilla sandwich cookies.
The resulting dessert was a sweet, salty, tart-like treat: a perfect marriage of the Barbuzzo Budino and the Salted Honeycomb Doughnut. To me, it tasted like a lighter, fluffier, take-it-up-a-notch version of a strawberry shortcake. The presentation itself makes you feel the strawberry shortcake inspiration.
You will see from the pictures that Kyle presented four larger portions for sharing purposes. You can always use smaller serving glasses to divide them into eight smaller, individual portions. Self control when eating desserts is never an act I would actively promote, and I’ll admit, trying to eat a small portion of this magical treat was one of the more difficult things I have done, sweets-wise. But, for those wanting a perfect compliment to any summer gathering, either a large or small portion, this should be your go-to Sumer of 2018 dessert!
- For the Rhubarb Compote:
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 cups (about 8 ounces) finely chopped rhubarb
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup port (or sweet red wine)
- For the Salted Honey Mousse:
- 2 cups whipping cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- For the cookie crust:
- 1 cup finely ground gluten free vanilla cookie crumbs (I used 1 8-ounce package of K-Toos Vanilla Sandwich Creme cookie)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- A few sprigs of mint, for garnish
- To make the Compote:
- Cook sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, undisturbed, until mostly melted, 6–8 minutes. Stir edges into the center with a heatproof spatula; cook, swirling pan occasionally, until caramel turns dark amber, about 2 minutes. Stir in rhubarb and vinegar. Don’t worry if some of the caramelized sugar seizes up at this point - it will dissolve while the rhubarb cooks. Partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is very soft, 8–10 minutes. Stir in the port and cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat, transfer to a medium-sized bowl, and let cool in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 2 hours.
- To make the mouse:
- In a large stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and sugar together until stiff peaks form. Remove the whipped cream and reserve.
- Remove the whisk and switch to the flat beater, and in the same large bowl (no need to clean it out from the whipped cream), beat together the cream cheese, honey, and kosher salt until thoroughly combined.
- Fold in ¾ of the whipped cream (reserving the rest for assembling the Budino), stirring to combine.
- To make the cookie crust:
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press 2 tablespoons cookie mixture onto the bottom of each of eight 8-ounce mason jars or ramekins, reserving the rest of the crumbs for garnish.
- To assemble the Budino, spoon 2 tablespoons of the Rhubarb compote into each ramekin over the cookie crumb mixture. Evenly divide the Salted Honey Mousse into each ramekin then top with another 2 tablespoons of the Rhubarb Compote. Top each Budino with a dollop of the reserved whipped cream and a sprinkle of the remaining cookie crumb mixture. Chill until ready to serve (at least 2 hours) and garnish each Budino with a sprig of mint, if desired.
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