It's Strawberry Mousse...

not moose. Hubs and I visited Alaska this past summer and found out that many dishes we had contained moose. This recipe does not contain moose but it is mousse.
Oh and it's also not the kind you of mousse you might put in your hair for added volume. This mousse is the creamy dreamy dessert kind of mousse. Hopefully that clears up any mousse/moose confusion!

Sorry for the silliness, I couldn't resist. Anyway this mousse is good eaten on its own but it really makes a fabulous filling for cakes and cupcakes. I used it for the filling in a chocolate cake. I had some leftover so I filled some chocolate cupcakes. I frosted the cake and the cupcakes with this frosting.
This cake has all the flavors of a chocolate dipped strawberry, in cake form. Delicious! 

Strawberry Mousse
(Printable recipe)

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half
1 packet unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup cold water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream, chilled

Method:
Puree the strawberries in the food processor. Strain the strawberries through a mesh strainer. (you could skip this step if you don't mind seeds in your mousse.) Add sugar and lemon juice.

Sprinkle gelatin over the cold water to let it bloom for five minutes. Melt the gelatin in the microwave.*
Stir the gelatin into the strawberry puree and let it thicken for a few minutes.
Whip the heavy cream until medium stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the puree with a rubber spatula until well incorporated. If using for a cake filling, refrigerate the mousse for 2 hours up to overnight before using.

*Note: (This is the method I use to dissolve gelatin.) To dissolve granular gelatin in a microwave: Combine 1 envelope unflavored granular gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water in a heat-proof bowl. Let sit until gelatin is softened. Microwave, uncovered, at 100 percent power, at 10 second intervals, for a total of approximately 45 seconds; check it in between each interval. Watch the gelatin mixture carefully because you don't want it to boil, otherwise it must be discarded because it will have lost its binding properties,

Make a dam around the cake with frosting. This will keep the mousse from getting loose...

no mousse on the loose!

This mousse is so easy and delicious you"ll want to make it all the time. I used fresh strawberries in mine but you could use thawed frozen berries if fresh berries are out of season.