Phyllo-Crust Cheese Mousse

Food and Prop Styling Renee Muller
Photography Hudi Greenberger

From time to time I really enjoy working on a labor-intensive laminated dough. Three days of work? Doesn’t scare me. Sometimes, though, the practical side of me wins out, and I want all of the wow factor but none of the envelope folds that you need for making it from scratch. Anyway, long story short: this is by far the best recipe I have ever developed.

SERVES 12

Crust

• 5 sheets phyllo dough
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Filling

• 1 cup cream
• ⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• 8 oz (225 g) whipped cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine sugar and salt in a small bowl. Lay a large piece of parchment paper on your workspace. Carefully unroll your phyllo and separate one sheet. Cover the rest with a clean dishcloth. Lay the phyllo on your parchment and carefully brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Add another phyllo sheet and another layer of melted butter and sugar. Repeat until you have 5 layers of dough, each covered in butter and sugar.