Easy eggless Paan Mousse is made with just a handful of ingredients. Made with paan leaves (betel leaves), gulkand (rose petal jam), fennel and flavored with rose water, this mousse is light, refreshing and makes a great dessert for Diwali or any other festivities.

Paan is such a refreshing flavor and so it’s no wonder that it always makes it to my Diwali dessert menu. Over the years I have created tons of desserts using paan (betel leaves) and gulkand (hello paan ladoo and cheesecake) and yet I can’t have enough of it. This eggless paan mousse is an easy dessert that you can put together in no time. There’s no cooking or baking involved which is a big plus and you can make it in advance.

The mouse is refreshing and topped with candied fennel and tutti frutti which makes it look so festive!

This Paan Mousse

• is egg-free and nut-free.
• needs no cooking and no baking.
• easy to make dessert with few ingredients.
• is colorful enough to look festive.
• its refreshing flavors make it the ideal dessert to have after a heavy meal.

Ingredients

Paan leaves: you need fresh paan leaves aka betel leaves for this recipe which you can find at most Indian grocery stores. I have used 6 to 7 large paan leaves here, if you find small ones, then you will need to use more of them.

Gulkand: you can find gulkand at most Indian grocery stores, it is a preserve made with rose petals. I have used in several paan recipes that I have shared on the blog in the past.

Flavor enhancers: this paan mousse gets its flavors from the paan leaves and gulkand and in addition to those, I have also added some fennel seeds and rose water for flavor.

Cream: you can use any heavy cream here.

Important Tips To Get The Mousse Right

The most important thing that you have to take care of while making this paan mousse is to beat the cream correctly and until the right stage. Then you also need to fold it correctly.

• Do not over beat the cream: if you beat it too much, it will separate and curdle. We are not making butter here so we don’t want that.
• Don’t beat until stiff peaks: for keeping this mousse light, you need to beat the cream only until it forms soft peaks. In fact, you need to stop just before it starts forming peaks, it should have like shaving cream consistency. Do not beat until the cream forms stiff peaks, that’s going a bit too far.
• Don’t fold vigorously: when you are folding the whipped cream into the paan mixture, fold it slowly while moving your spatula in one direction. Don’t mix too vigorously else you will lose all the air that you incorporated into the cream.

Step by Step Instructions

1-To a high-speed blender add the following:

• 6-7 large paan leaves (20 to 22 grams in weight)
• 1 & 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/3 cup gulkand (rose petal preserve)
• 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon rose water
• 1/2 cup cream

2- Blend for 30 to 60 seconds.

3 Until it is all combined and you have a smooth paste.

4- Transfer this paste to a bowl and let it chill for 20 to 30 minutes. Also chill the steel bowl of your stand mixer and wire whisk attachment for the same time.

5- Add 1 & 1/4 cup heavy cream to the steel bowl of your stand mixer (which was chilled for 20 minutes prior). Also add 2 & 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar, few drops of peppermint extract and green food color.

6- Using the wire whisk attachment, beat the cream until it forms very soft peaks (like shaving cream consistency). Please remember to not beat until it forms stiff peaks here. We do not want that, just about soft peaks are fine. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl.

7- To the same steel bowl, now add the chilled paan paste that we had prepared earlier. Beat it for 30 seconds using the wire whisk attachment.

8- Start folding the whipped cream into the paan mixture, slowly and in parts. Add in some of the whipped cream and fold.

9- Fold the whipped cream in parts and move the spatula in one direction. Don’t over-mix or mix very vigorously else you will deflate all the air.

10- Fold until all the whipped cream is well combined with the paan mixture.

11- Now, take your serving glass. Use small 2 to 3 oz glasses for this. Sprinkle a few tutti frutti at the bottom of the glass. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of gulkand at the bottom- this is optional and you can skip if you wish to keep the sweetness on the lighter side.

12- Now, using a piping bag (or use a spoon) fill the glass with the prepared mousse. Sprinkle with candied fennel and more tutti frutti if you like. Chill for 15 to 20 minutes and then serve. If you are making this in advance, please take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit for 15 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Tips & Notes

• Please be careful about over-beating the cream, it will make a huge difference to the final texture of the mousse. Beat until it just starts to form soft peaks.
• Adding a bit of gulkand at the bottom of your serving glass/bowl is completely optional. The mousse gets its sweetness from gulkand that’s already in there and also from the powdered sugar. So adding more gulkand will make the mousse more sweet. If you want to keep it less sweet, skip that extra layer of gulkand.
• You can make the mousse in advance and keep it refrigerated. It will become quite firm as it sits in the fridge so take it out and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
• I tried making this mousse lighter by using whole milk while blending the paan paste but it didn’t set as well as I would have liked it to. Also, it tasted better when I used only cream in the mousse.

More Paan Recipes

• The ever popular Paan Ladoo is always an instant hit!
• If you have never associated paan with cheesecake, then you need to try the Paan Cheesecake and the Paan Cheesecake Truffles.
• The paan spin on traditional peda in these Paan Peda is definitely delightful.
• Give you kheer a refreshing twist with the Paan Kheer which also has a rose cashew crumble.

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