Strawberry Mousse with White Chocolate

1 . Stage

Make strawberry purée: Clean and hull the strawberries. Starting with about half of the strawberries (3/4 pound), quarter them and purée them in either a blender or food processor. Press the purée mixture through a mesh sieve with the back of a spoon into a bowl. You want to end up with 1 cup of purée. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and set aside.

2 . Stage

Slice remaining berries: With the remaining 3/4 pound or so of berries, slice as many as will fill up 2 cups, and set aside.

3 . Stage

Melt the white chocolate: Melt white chocolate in a double boiler, or a stainless steel bowl set over simmering water (make sure the simmering water doesn't actually touch the bottom of the bowl.) Stir until smooth, set aside.

4 . Stage

Soften the gelatin: Put 1/4 cup of cold water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the water and let sit for 5 minutes.

5 . Stage

Dissolve gelatin mixture into heated cream and powdered sugar: Put 1/4 cup of the cream into a small saucepan on medium heat. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of the powdered sugar and bring to a simmer. Stir in the water-gelatin mixture until dissolved.

6 . Stage

Combine with melted chocolate: Pour this mixture into the bowl with the melted white chocolate and whisk until smooth.

7 . Stage

Stir in 3/4 cup of the puréed strawberries: Reserve the remaining 1/4 cup.

8 . Stage

Make whipped cream: Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the remaining 1 3/4 cup of cream on medium-high speed until medium peaks form. (It helps if your cream is very cold.)

9 . Stage

Incorporate whipped cream into mousse base, chill: Stir a third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the remaining whipped cream into the mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

10 . Stage

Incorporate sliced strawberries into mousse: Stir the remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into the reserved sliced berries. Fold the sliced berries into the mousse.

11 . Stage

Spoon mousse into serving cups and refrigerate: Chill in the refrigerator for at least another hour, preferably several hours, or even overnight (cover with plastic wrap).

12 . Stage

Top with reserved strawberry purée: When you are ready to serve the mousse, pour a dollop of the reserved strawberry purée onto each serving. Add a few slices of strawberries as garnish.