The Best Butterscotch Mousse Recipe (2024)

Why You Have to Make This Recipe

If you love butterscotch, you owe it to yourself to try it in mousse form.

The contrast of the ultra-light texture with the deep butterscotch flavor is just fantastic.

It’s light on the tongue but deep in the palate, if that makes sense.

It requires no fancy ingredients, and you don’t need to find Pasteurized eggs.

You also don’t need fancy equipment: a good metal bowl, is pretty necessary, but either a hand mixer or a stand mixer will do.

It has a comforting, familiar flavor but in a fancier presentation, which means the whole family will love it.

Serve it after a family meal on any given evening, or serve it as a light but comforting ending to a dinner party.

Please make it. It’s so very good!

How To Make It

This recipe is made in three parts:

1. A not-very-sweet and overly-salty pudding base.
2. A sweet brown sugar Swiss meringue, and
3. Whipped cream

When all three components are folded together, you get a light and dreamy dessert mousse that is perfectly balanced in both sweetness and salt.

I’ll go over all the components and how to make them along with giving you some tips, answering some frequently asked questions, and sharing some serving suggestions.

If you would like to skip all of that and just go straight to the recipe, please click to go to the butterscotch mousse recipe.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this deliciousness. I’ll list any substitutions if they make sense for the recipe:

For the Custard Base

• egg yolks: The eggs bring richness, some thickening power, and emulsifiers to the butterscotch mousse
• cornstarch: For thickening. You can also use flour if you like. If you do, you won’t have to boil the pudding for as long as if you’re using cornstarch. But then it won’t be gluten-free, so it’s your choice
• salt: Salt is one of the three flavor components, along with brown sugar and butter, of butterscotch. So for this mousse, I use more than I would normally for seasoning. You can use fine salt or kosher salt. If using fine salt, use about half the amount called for in the recipe
• butter: Salted or unsalted. If you use salted, you can cut back slightly on the added salt
• dark brown sugar: Dark brown sugar is definitely my preference for butterscotch, but you can also use light brown. Or if all you have is granulated sugar, use that along with 2 teaspoons of molasses
• milk: I use whole milk. You can also substitute 2% milk or any plant-based milk that won’t curdle if boiled. Soy milk is probably your best bet
• vanilla: Rounds out the flavor of the butterscotch. It is not strictly necessary, and you can leave it out. But if you have some vanilla on hand, do add it.

For the Meringue

• egg whites: Use the whites leftover from separating the eggs for the yolks in the custard
• dark brown sugar: Again, dark brown is best, but you can use light brown in a pinch.
• salt: I use 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in the meringue. You can use table salt, but only about 1/8 teaspoon

For the Whipped Cream

• heavy cream: There really is no substitute here. Heavy cream will give you the best texture for your mousse
• salt: just a small pinch. It brings out the flavor in the cream

Procedure

1. First you’ll make the custard:
   1. Whisk yolks, cornstarch, and about 1/4 cup of the milk together in a bowl.
   2. Make the butterscotch by cooking the butter, dark brown sugar and salt together with just a bit of water to dissolve all the sugar.
   3. Cook until the butter browns and the sugar caramelizes. Mixture will look broken–lots of loose butterfat–and it will smell like caramel
   4. Pour in the rest of the milk and heat over medium heat until smooth.
   5. Temper into the yolk mixture and pour everything back into the pan.
   6. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and boil for 2 minutes.
   7. Strain and cool to room temperature in the fridge.
2. Then you’ll make the Swiss meringue:
   1. Heat whites, brown sugar, and salt together over a double boiler.
   2. Cook and whisk constantly until the temperature is 180F
   3. Whip until tripled in volume and at room temperature
   4. Fold gently but thoroughly into the custard base
3. Last, make the whipped cream:
   1. Whip the cream and a pinch of salt together until it reaches medium peaks.
   2. Fold into the mousse.
   3. Portion into individual bowls
   4. Chill for about 4 hours before serving

Equipment Recommendations

If you have a metal bowl, a stand mixer or a hand mixer, and a whisk, you are good to go.

It’s also nice to have some small 4-6 ounce dessert glasses so you can fill them right up to the top with mousse and then level it off for a sleek look.

If you use wine glasses, pipe it decoratively into the bottom of the glasses, but serve it in small portions.

Visual How-To

I want to provide you with a few visual cues so you’ll know what some of the steps should look like–what color, what texture, etc.

Here’s what your butterscotch mixture should look like when it’s almost ready to go. You will probably notice the butterfat separating from the sugar. When that happens, just keep stirring and smelling it. Once you get a distinct caramel smell from your mixture, it’s time to turn off the heat and add the milk.

Here’s what your pudding will look like when it is done. Note how thick it is. You need it to be that thick so it maintains shape once you get the meringue and the whipped cream folded in.

Since it is so thick, you will most likely have to press it through your strainer. I use a flexible silicone spatula for this step.

Take a look at the color and texture of the finished brown sugar Swiss meringue. It should be a very pale beige in color and hold stiff peaks.

Instead of trying to fold all the meringue into the custard, stir a portion of it in first to lighten the texture of the custard. Then it will be much easier to fold in the remaining meringue and the whipped cream.

Note that after I shot this clip one-handed, I just whisked in that portion of meringue. You should too! Then switch back to a spatula to fold in the remaining meringue.

Here’s the final consistency of the mousse once you get the meringue and the whipped cream incorporated. It will set up to an airy, spoonable texture once it’s refrigerated for a few hours.

Pro Tips for Success

Make sure your pudding has cooled to room temperature before folding in the meringue. Whisk the pudding a bit before starting to loosen it up. This will make it easier to combine.

Remember this formula to make almost any flavor of dessert mousse: rich, flavorful base (custard, ganache, etc) + whipped whites (meringue) + whipped cream

While light in texture, this is a very rich dessert. Plan on 4-6 oz per serving at the most.

For a less formal presentation, you can leave the mousse in a large container and then scoop it out to serve.

Butterscotch Mousse Q & A

Serving Suggestions

Obviously you can serve it, as is. I like to top mine with some hand-whipped cream. By the way, I whip the cream for the mousse by hand as well.

To provide some textural contrast, consider serving with some chopped toffee or candied nuts.

You can also use this mousse as a cake filling or a component in a more complex dessert.

For example, if you wanted to, you could top my butterscotch cheesecake with this mousse rather than with meringue. Or use some butterscotch mousse as the filling in my butterscotch cake.

And think about other flavors that pair well with butterscotch such as banana, pistachio, and peanut butter. So think about piping butterscotch mousse onto a pistachio tea cake, or even topping your mousse with some bananas foster. Talk about a fancy ending to a meal!

Questions

A Note About Measurements

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See Also

Homemade Custard Recipe (Pastry Cream)

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