What exactly is a verrine? Well, the idea is to display dishes that would normally be served on plates, in vertical and transparent containers. Like layers of trifle in a glass (verre in French). I’ve been eyeing these multilayered colourful desserts and growing ‘curioser and curioser’ as Alice would say in Cake Wonderland. Upon investigation I discovered they were invented not so long ago in 1994 by one of the figureheads of French patisserie, Philippe Conticini. So how about an experimental verrine with avocado mousse, rumoured to be delicious, complemented by sharp fresh raspberries and the crunch of salty pistachios? Throw in some other bits and pieces and ‘Eureka!’ This verrine is a delicious feast of flavours, textures and colours yet fast and simple to make! Yay! 🙂
The layers, according to the original verrine concept, are supposed to involve initial acidity, the main body of taste and a smooth finish, which is where the greek yoghurt comes in.
Raspberry, avocado mousse and pistachio verrines
And how was this particular verrine born? Let me set the scene. It was a very rainy day as you can see from the photograph below. Can you see the blurry figure with the umbrella? This is my attempt at an arty water photo… ahem. Anyway, there I was thinking ‘Well at least I have a ‘water’ shot for my photo101 blogging course’ and ‘water is very important here in drought-ridden Spain so you could see it as symbolic if you try hard.’ And again the coursework was done without moving from my balcony! 🙂
‘Then I started wondering where my next cake would be coming from since I’d just finished a slice of raspberry charlotte from the freezer. ‘Ting!’ (that’s the sound of a brainwave): I would use my leftover sponge fingers from the charlotte, my meringue nests and Quark from the pavlovas and construct a verrine! Then ‘Ting! Ting!’: why not make an avocado mousse with the quark? Oh and must have fresh fruit: raspberries from the freezer.
Let’s call this creation ‘semi-healthy‘ but you can adapt the ingredients to suit your tastes and needs.
Here are the ingredients for two small wine glasses.
For the avocado mousse whisk all these ingredients together in a bowl:
- 65g avocado, fairly ripe and mashed (1 medium-sized)
- 35g quark or fresh cheese/mascarpone/ricotta (about 2-3 tablespoons)
- 10g freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (about a quarter of the fruit)
- 20 to 25g honey – 1-2 tablespoons (to taste)
To construct the verrine:
- 6 small sponge fingers or cake broken up into pieces (shop-bought or use my recipe for Charlotte sponge fingers here)
- a few teaspoons of Kirsch liqueur, brandy or orange juice
- 1 small meringue nest broken up into smallish pieces (shop-bought or use the recipe for my meringue nests here)
- 1 pot of natural greek yoghurt (112g)
- 10-12 pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
- a handful of raspberries
And this is the drawing to demonstrate layer construction:
Layering a raspberry, avocado mousse and pistachio verrine
Easy-peasy, with arty uneven layers!
The hardest thing was not eating the second verrine immediately and keeping it till next day to see how it survived in the fridge. It made it to breakfast: scrumptious but not as photogenic because it sinks a little and leaves a transparent while line around the top edge. So if serving to guests, make a few hours before or on the same day. Better be quick going to Fiesta Friday now at Angie’s place!
Raspberry, avocado mousse and pistachio verrines
I’ll definitely be making verrines with yummy avocado mousse again as they are so relaxing, fast and easy to make. And delicious with all the different textures and flavours! So though you could argue trifle in pots and knickerbocker glories have existed for yonks, I say thanks again Mr Conticini for your invention!
And what are your favourite verrines? Are you inspired to make your own? What would you put in them? If you’d like to see some more sweet and savoury ones for ideas, you can look here.
Well, must dash and maybe do something other than baking! 🙂 Farewell sweet reader and hope you’ve enjoyed our time in the world of les verrines. Thanks for dropping by again and I wish you sweet day dreams! 🙂
lili's cakes 
Looks delicious :))
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Thank you! 🙂
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This looks yummie!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Looks effortless and beautiful! I was amazed by the list of ingredients that has gone into the glass!
It will be like a food treasure hunt when you find different flavours in there!
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Thank you Sridevi! 🙂 I actually really enjoyed eating the verrine! The meringue and sponge are quite neutral, and the avocado mousse pretty mellow, so everything works together but it is pretty exciting when you put your spoon in! 🙂 Maybe you could try one, making it your own way, with your own ingredients!
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As usual tasting the mousse… Yummy 🙂
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Thank you and have some more Nimmi! 🙂
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Aww, love to 🙂 Thank you, dear 🙂
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wow!!nice!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Avocado mousse! I think that’s brilliant 🙂 I love avocado smoothies and bubble tea so I can only imagine that avocado mousse would be even better than that.
And what a clever way to use up the various leftovers!
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Thank you! 🙂 I was very happy with the results and would recommend verrines and avocado mousse to everyone!!! Though I’ve never tried bubble tea and will look for some… Thanks again for your lovely comments! 🙂
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wow! this look so beautiful, especially with the visible layers and contrast of colours with the raspberries and the pistachio. looks like something you’d serve up in a restaurant. x
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Oooh … It’s really nice of you to say that!! And I’m really happy you noticed the colour thing … as it’s one of the things I love about it – have always liked dark pink and green together. Thank you!! 🙂
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How interesting! I see so many dishes presented like this on Instagram, especially chia seed puddings, I had no idea it had a proper name! I love your mix of flavours 😀 thank you for educating us and bringing these lovely layers to this week’s Fiesta Friday ☺️
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I’m happy you like this verrine Elaine! 🙂 I’ll have a look round for the chia seed puddings, as I’d quite like to make some… And thank you for all your encouraging comments, which are motivating me to maybe make more layer puddings one day! Happy FF and thanks for hosting the party this week! 🙂
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My pleasure, thank you 🙂 yes, make some more verrines, we will all enjoy them!! X
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🙂 🙂 Will do! x
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This dessert looks delicious, I bet the avocado really compliments well with the raspberries and pistachio
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Thanks Michelle! You’re right, the avocado (with a touch of lemon juice) really does go with the rest…! One of my more successful experiments! 🙂
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