It's hard to believe it's already been a month, but yes, it's Secret Recipe Club time again!
My assignment for December is Culinary Adventures with Cam, a blog by Camilla, a scuba-diving, jewelry-making, photo-taking mama from the Monterey Bay area.
I've been reading Cam's blog for a while, after first discovering it through past SRC reveals.
I admire her knack for finding interesting flavour combinations (this delicious-looking Salted Fennel Pollen Shortbread), her seriously ambitious dinner party menus (I mean, look at this masterpiece of a Thanksgivukkah menu!), and her willingness to try new cuisines, no matter how obscure or unfamiliar they might be (did you even know there's a place called Kiribati, let alone what they eat there? Because I sure didn't.)
Despite all that reading, I still hadn't gotten around to cooking any of her recipes yet. So I guess this was the universe's way to fixing that little oversight.
What is Debesmanna?
Cam has literally thousands of recipes to choose from in her archives, but the one that really caught my eye was the Latvian Debesamanna.
Debesmanna is a traditional Latvian dessert. The name literally translates to "celestial farina”, which is a pretty accurate description, if you ask me!
Believe it or not, this fluffy cranberry mousse is made from just three ingredients - cranberry juice, sugar and cream of wheat cereal (aka farina). These three ingredients are cooked together on the stovetop, and then whipped for several minutes with a stand mixer as they cool. The mixture starts off as a dark magenta sludge, but eventually whips up into an airy cotton-candy-pink cloud.
If you're not a fan of cranberries, you can also take a more untraditional route and substitute with any tart fruit juice or puree. Strawberry, cherry, blackberry and pomegranate would all work, though the colour of the finished mousse will shift depending on what kind of fruit you use.
The Importance of Gluten
Cam adapted her recipe to use rice cereal, but I decided to switch back to the traditional cream of wheat for my version.
Not that I have anything against rice, but the magical transformation in this dessert owes everything to gluten. It creates elastic strands that catch and hold the air as it's being whipped in, much like the proteins in egg whites or the fat in whipping cream. Without it, the mousse will never achieve the same kind of fluffy texture.
And yes... the mousse really does come out that brilliant shade of princess pink!
(Honest, the colour in these photos is entirely un-retouched.)
What Does Debesmanna Taste Like?
It's a surprisingly delicious dish, and totally unlike any dessert I've ever had before.
The airy texture is nothing at all like the stodgy cream of wheat we all know and (kinda sorta) love, but paradoxically it still feels substantial and filling. It's sweet and tart all at once, and the traditional splash of milk adds a cool creaminess to temper the tangy cranberry flavour.
I suppose a dollop of whipped cream on top might also be rather nice, if you wanted to dress things up. However, I much prefer the simplicity of milk, particularly if you want to follow Cam's advice and gobble it down for breakfast.
I mean, when you think about it, as pretty and fluffy and pink as this dish might be, it's still just cereal with fruit juice and a splash of milk. Right? :)
//
Print
Debesmanna (Latvian Cranberry Mousse)
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This traditional Latvian dessert is so airy and light, you'd never guess the key ingredient is stodgy cream of wheat cereal.
Ingredients
- 3 cups unsweetened cranberry juice
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup cream of wheat
- Milk, for serving
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together juice and sugar, and bring to a boil.
- Gradually sprinkle in the cream of wheat, whisking briskly to make sure the mixture doesn't get lumpy. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Scrape the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, and beat on medium-high speed until the pudding is thick and doubled in volume, about 12 minutes.
- Immediately spoon into serving bowls. Before serving, top each bowl off with a splash of milk, if desired, or simply serve plain.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Dessert
Evelina says
Thank you for the recipe!
To avoid lumps I suggest you to put cream of wheat into cold liquid, mix it and then boil:) its much easier!
★★★★★
Evelina says
favourite dessert ever?
★★★★★
Jon says
Just googled the recipe. Thanks so much for posting it! I'm rating this five stars though I haven't made it yet because my Latvian mom used to make it all the time when I was a kid! And I loved it! I have a question. If you can't find unsweetened cranberry juice, is the regular sweetened stuff ok? Would you just leave out the sugar? Thanks again!
★★★★★
Isabelle Boucher says
I haven't tried with sweetened cranberry juice, but I suspect that leaving out the sugar would compensate just fine. Alternatively, you can check out a health food store (or the healthy/organic aisle at your grocery store), which is where I've usually been able to find it.
Rita Didrichsons says
Classic Latvian dish!
★★★★★
Latvian chick says
Yumm! Growing up in Latvia we used to have this for dessert quite often. Try rhubarb instead of cranberries sometime, that's just as delicious. I have never tried it with anything other than manna / farina ("cream of wheat") which I believe is essential for this dessert to be airy and worthy of its name "debesmanna" or "sky-manna" and float on top of milk.
Isabelle Boucher says
Thanks for the tip! I'm a HUGE rhubarb fan. Will have to try it out as soon as rhubarb season rolls around again... sadly, I didn't stash any away in my freezer this year. :(
Kate | Food Babbles says
Wow! What a simple yet stunning dessert! I absolutely love cranberries and this seems like such a unique way to use them. Lovely!
Dionne Baldwin says
WOW I never ever in my life would have thought to whip cream of wheat. Nor would I have imagined that it could be a dessert! Going on my to do list. I can't wait to try that light and fluffy treat. I might even try it for breakfast. :-)
kirstin says
THis sounds really good!
shannon @ a periodic table says
this looks beautiful, isabelle! and for the record, i love cream of wheat. ;) even if it IS stodgy.
PolaM says
What a short and interesting list of ingredients! To try!
Becca from It's Yummi! says
Oh my GOSH... that color! How incredibly gorgeous!
Christiane ~ Taking On Magazines says
Am the only person in the world that adores cream of wheat?? I do love the stuff. Which, I figure, means that I'll love this too. I'm off to find me some unsweetened cranberry juice!
Isabelle Boucher says
You're not alone, Christiane... I love me a big steaming bowl of cream of wheat, especially when the weather gets all cold like this. It's not exciting, but it sure is satisfying. :)
Jane, The Heritage Cook says
This is a beautiful dessert and I love that you can make it with or without gluten. I have a friend who is going to go crazy for this pink dessert!!
Isabelle Boucher says
For sure! The one caution is that gluten-free version will come out much darker and denser, because the lack of gluten will prevent the mousse from creating the little air pockets necessary to create that light, fluffy texture. (You can see what I mean if you look at the photos on Cam's blog)
I'm sure it's still plenty delicious, though!
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz says
Wow this is so cool, I am totally intrigued and impressed. Bookmarked!
sarah k @ the pajama chef says
i am not a cream of wheat fan, but i just might buy some to make this. so pretty!!
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
This looks delicious- great SRC pick!
Lesa @ Edesia's Notebook says
Oh my goodness, I can't believe that beautiful dessert is made with cream of wheat! Crazy! Looks amazing though.
Anna says
Dessert for breakfast! It's so pretty, and I'm intrigued by this. I never would have guess that Cream of Wheat could do this.
sara says
So pretty - I LOVE the color!!
chitchatchomp says
Just three ingredients made that picture perfect dish. Just gorgeous!
Sweet as Sugar Cookies says
That is incredible. I had no idea you could make mousse from cream of wheat. All the better that you can have dessert for breakfast.
Isabelle Boucher says
Amazing, right? This is what I love about the SRC. I get to learn something new every month!
Jess says
Oh Isabelle, I'm with you! I just love that pink color - gorgeous!
Camilla @ Culinary Adventures says
Awww...thanks, Isabelle! Kind words that make me blush. Thanks for cooking from my blog - and for reminding me of this recipe. I will have to whip this up this week.
Isabelle Boucher says
Thanks for the great recipe, Cam! The Mister wasn't all that excited by it, but I can see this becoming a standby for my take-to-work breakfasts. I just love that fluffy, moussey texture. I'm thinking of trying this with other tangy/tart juices, like sour cherry or pomegranate.
Micha @ Cookin' Mimi says
This is such a lovely color and I would have never guessed cream of wheat was an ingredient.