Strawberry Mousse Shortbread Mini Tartlettes – Gluten-free

Fresh strawberry mousse is one of the most delicious things in this world, I think. It involves so few ingredients and is really quite easy to whip up. It is fantastic by itself or  topping something else, like these little shortbread mini tartelettes.

Don’t use frozen strawberries, fresh, as always, is best. To get a strawberry puree, simple place a handful of strawberries in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Run the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds and pulp and you are good to go. I even use a juicer sometimes to puree my berries. Work like a charm.

These little shortbread cups are made in a mini muffin tin and are gluten-free. Not that you’ll be able to really tell when biting into one. Make sure to use a gluten-free flour blend for the shortbread that contains xanthan gum. Some don’t, so check the ingredients. Xanthan gum will help the flour blend bind, since it doesn’t have gluten to do that for it.

I know that some of you are also looking for dairy-free options. If this is you, you could replace the butter with a dairy-free or vegan butter substitute(this will alter the flavor of the shortbread) and use a dairy free whipped topping in place of the whipped cream.

One nice thing about this strawberry mousse is that it doesn’t set too firmly when chilled, which means that you can keep a piping bag filled with it in your fridge and pipe out swirls of mousse on demand. It won’t brake up or clot. I prefer to pipe the mousse onto the shortbreads just before serving, so this way I can make the mousse and shortbread ahead of time, and assemble them as needed. The shortbread is better at room temperature and the mousse is best chilled so this is all just a win/win situation.

Strawberry Mousse Shortbread Tartelettes {gluten free}

*makes 36 mini tartelettes

Ingredients

• 1 C. Strawberry Puree
• 1 teaspoon Granulated Gelatin
• 2 C. Heavy Cream
• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 8 Strawberries, quartered lengthwise(for garnish)
• 1 T. Pistachios, chopped(for garnish)
• 14 tablespoons Butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 C. Cornstarch
• 1 1/3 C. Gluten-free Flour Blend(make sure to use one that contains xanthan gum)
• 2  tablespoons Coconut Flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Instructions

1. Place 1/2 C. of the strawberry puree in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the puree and let soak in for about 5 minutes.
2. When the gelatin has soaked into the puree, place the pan over high heat and heat just until the gelatin begins to dissolve. Remove and allow to cool completely.
3. Stir in the remaining 1/2 C. puree.
4. In a large bowl, add the heavy cream and sugar and whip to very stiff peaks.
5. Gently fold the strawberry puree into the whipped cream.
6. Spoon the mousse into a piping bag.
7. Pipe swirls of mousse on top of cooled shortbread tartelettes and garnish each with a slice of fresh strawberry and chopped pistachios.
8. Keep chilled until service.
9. FOR THE SHORTBREAD TARTELETTES:
10.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine the softened butter and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Cream together until light and fluffy.
11. Add in the vanilla.
12. In a small bowl, combine the salt, cornstarch, gluten free flour blend, and coconut flour.
13. Add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and mix in on low speed until just combined.
14. Scoop up about 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons worth of dough and roll it into a ball. Place the ball of dough in a well of a mini muffin pan and starting with pressing your finger down into the center of the dough, press and pat the dough up and around the sides of the well, forming a cup. Repeat with the remaining dough.
15. Bake the shortbread cups in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until they have started to turn lightly brown on the tops.
16. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
17. To remove the cups, press down lightly on the cup while gripping the edges and twist slightly to un-stick. Cups should lift out once gently twisted.