I recently saw a recipe on TV for key lime mousse and thought, wouldn’t it be nice if I could add this to my list of keto dessert recipes?
Now let me just point something out. I am not a strict keto dieter. As a matter of fact, I am not on the keto diet at all. I do, however, follow the rules for intermittent fasting as that does seem to help both my husband and I keep any unnecessary weight off. (Don’t know what that is? Read all about the benefits of intermittent fasting and how to do it. That pre-diabetic reference? Yeah, that worked for me!)
Sometimes, though, it is nice to indulge in a key lime mousse without feeling the food coma afterward. This is where the keto dessert part comes in.
Enter stevia.
There are different kinds of stevia out there. So, which one should you use?
First, let me set the record straight. There is only one stevia plant.
I am going to strongly advise against buying your stevia in the grocery store. If you read the labels, you will see that grocery store stevia has other ingredients in it besides stevia. Those other ingredients are fillers, and the FDA allows stevia to be marketed as stevia as long as there is as little as 3% stevia in the package.
Translation: Grocery store stevia may contain up to 97% dextrose, or whatever other chemical is listed on the label. If you are not ok with this, then purchase your stevia online. Real 100% organic stevia is 200 times sweeter than sugar, so a little goes a long way. You will pay more up front, but In the end you will save money, and you will be saving your health.
Need proof?
- In 2018 I purchased the bag of organic stevia leaf that I used in this recipe. I still have about a quarter of the bag left.
- I bought a tube of 100% real stevia extract last year, and the tube is not even half gone yet, and I use this in my coffee every morning.
Ok, ok, so I got all scientific and activist on you. Of course, you can use whatever stevia you want, but I imagine that the reason you found this webpage and are still reading it is because you are concerned about your health. I used the following stevia in this recipe and it works great!
Frontier Natural Products Organic Stevia
Now, about this healthy key lime mousse recipe…
I will admit that I was intimidated by the idea of coming up with a fat bomb dessert in the form of key lime mousse. I sat on this idea for nearly a month before I set out to make it come to life.
It took me three tries and several hours, but the result is this keto key lime mousse recipe that I am quite proud of. It is light and airy like a dessert mousse should be, yet it is incredibly filling…
Yeah! Can anyone say fat bomb?
Except you get to eat this one with a spoon, which makes it perfect for a garden tea party – keto style!
Keto Key Lime Mousse
Equipment
- Stand Mixer (with whisk attachment)
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ tsp powdered whole leaf stevia
- 16 drops lime essential oil
- 6 egg whites room temperature
- zest of 1 lime
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the cream, stevia, and essential oil until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Using a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the whisk attachment of a stand mixer at high speed, until stiff peaks form. You want the egg whites to be very fluffy! When the egg whites begin to collect inside of the whisk, then they are ready. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Fold the lime zest into the whipped cream, then divide the whipped cream into two equal portions. Fold the first portion of the whipped cream into the egg whites and gently incorporate with a rubber spatula until the egg whites reduce in size to about half. Fold in the remaining whipped cream until well mixed throughout, but be careful not to over-stir.
- Carefully spoon the mousse into a piping bag with the star attachment. Pipe mousse into six small serving dishes, then garnish each with a small sprinkle of lime zest and a sprig of fresh mint. Refrigerate immediately and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes, but not more than 3 hours, before serving.