Hay Hay It's Donna Day: Pistacho Mousse Shortbread Stack

When I was a child, one of my favorite desserts was a Pistachio Dream bar. It consisted of a shortbread crust, pistachio pudding and Cool Whip topping. So when Helen of Tartlette announced that HHDD #11 would be on mousse, I decided to try and recreate this dessert, but with a touch of gourmet flair.

One thing I found out quite quickly: It's nearly impossible to find pistachio extract. So I did some research and found that it's pretty easy to make a pistachio milk reduction that can be used in place of extract. You simply grind some raw pistachios into powder, add milk, cook down until thick and strain. You end up with a yellow-ish green reduction that has a very strong pistachio flavor:

I wanted my mousse to be a little on the thick/dense side, as I planned to make a stack that had a shortbread bottom AND top. I mixed together some ground pistachios, pistachio reduction, sugar, marscapone, ricotta, vanilla extract and whipped cream.

Mixing mousse ingredients

Then I created a pistachio shortbread: butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and chopped pistachios. Instead of rolling them out and cutting out circles, I waited until after the shortbread was baked to cut.

Because shortbread comes out somewhat soft, it's much easier to cut rounds out of an already-baked shortbread. This takes out the tedious chore of rolling out dough. The circles came out clean and even:

Now the best part: assembly! I piped the mousse onto a shortbread circle, topped with a bit of fresh whipped cream, then topped with another shortbread circle and a few pistachios. Because shortbread is nice and crumbly, it's very easy to cut through all the layers with a fork without the mousse oozing out of the sides. The shortbread isn't too sweet, and works really well with the rich, sweet pistachio mousse. The flavor of the pistachio really came through, and you get a nice little crunch because of the finely chopped nuts in the mix. All in all it came out wonderfully and it took me back to my childhood. Next time, however, I may add a few drops of green food coloring, just for presentation.

Pistachio Mousse Shortbread Stack

Pistachio Shortbread Rounds

2 sticks (1/2 cup) butter at room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand until a dough forms. Spread the dough out on a cookie sheet (dough will cover about half of a regular-sized cookie sheet) until about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until slightly golden. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, immediately cut rounds out of baked shortbread, then let cool. Makes approx one dozen rounds.

Pistachio Mousse Shortbread Stack

3 tablespoons Pistachio Reduction (see recipe below)

1 cup ricotta cheese - room temperature

1/2 cup marscapone cheese - room temperature

1/2 cup super fine sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup fine ground pistachios

1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup slightly sweet whipped cream

Pistachio Shortbread Rounds

Pistachio halves (for garnish)

Combine first 6 ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Carefully fold in 1/2 cup of slightly sweetened whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Pipe onto shortbread rounds, then top with remaining whipped cream, another shortbread round and garnish with pistachios.

Pistachio Reduction

1 cup of finely ground pistachios

2 cups whole milk

Combine pistachios and milk in a sauce pan, and bring to a boil - stirring constantly. Turn heat the very low and continue cooking for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixture will get very thick and slightly lumpy. Pour through a fine sieve and allow mixture to cool at room temperature. Store in jar or plastic container and refrigerate for 3 hours or until cold.