Mary Berry’s smoked salmon mousse is a chilled starter made with smoked salmon trimmings, double cream, horseradish and lemon juice. From her Family Sunday Lunches cookbook, it serves 12, sets overnight in 7cm metal rings, and needs no baking or gelatine.
Berry’s headnote in Family Sunday Lunches (2016) suggests shaping the mousse into quenelles if you don’t have metal rings. Her method is precise: process the trimmings to “the size of peppercorns,” keeping visible flecks of colour rather than blending to a uniform paste.
The split cream method is what gives this its texture. Berry blends 100ml of cream with the salmon, then whips the remaining 200ml separately and folds it in by hand. That folding traps air, producing a light, cloud-like mousse that holds its shape.
Mary Berry Smoked Salmon Mousse
Course: AppetizersCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy12
servings30
minutes170
kcalThis crowd-sized starter from Family Sunday Lunches feeds 12 and costs under £10 when you use salmon trimmings. Each mousse sits on dressed leaves with a cucumber and dill salad spooned on top, finished with a smoked salmon rosette.
Ingredients
- For the mousse:
350g (12 oz) good quality smoked salmon trimmings
300ml (½ pint) pouring double cream
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp creamed horseradish
1 tsp tomato purée
A good dash of Tabasco
1 packet fresh dill, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the cucumber salad and garnish:
1 cucumber
Salad dressing
A handful of mixed salad leaves
12 small slices of smoked salmon
1 tub mustard cress
Directions
- Line a baking tray with cling film. Arrange 12 x 7cm (2¾ in) metal rings on the baking tray.
- Measure the smoked salmon trimmings into a processor and whiz briefly, just enough to be the size of peppercorns (do not over-chop). Add 100ml of the pouring cream and whiz again until combined.
- Tip into a bowl, stir in the lemon juice, horseradish, tomato purée, Tabasco and half the chopped dill. Season with black pepper and stir to combine.
- Lightly whip the remaining cream and fold it into the bowl.
- Spoon into the metal rings and level the tops. Cover each one with cling film and leave in the fridge to set overnight.
- Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and, using a teaspoon, scoop out the seeds and discard. Chop the flesh very finely into neat cubes. Tip into a bowl, add a little salad dressing just to coat, and season. Stir in the remaining chopped dill.
- Place a few salad leaves on 12 individual plates and dress with some salad dressing. Sit the salmon mousses on top and carefully remove the rings and cling film. Spoon a little cucumber salad on top of each mousse and arrange a small rosette or ruffle of smoked salmon on top of the cucumber. Sprinkle with snipped mustard cress. Serve with small bread rolls.
FAQs
Why doesn’t this mousse use gelatine to set?
Berry relies on the natural fat content of smoked salmon and whipped double cream to hold the mousse together once chilled. The cream firms up in the fridge, and the salmon trimmings provide enough body to keep the shape when you lift off the metal rings.
This is a pattern across Berry’s salmon recipes. Her Fresh Salmon and Dill Terrines from the Christmas Collection and her Double Salmon Tian both skip gelatine entirely. She avoids it whenever the dish has enough fat and protein to set naturally, which produces a softer, more delicate texture.
Can I make this without metal rings?
Berry answers this herself in the headnote. She says to take two dessertspoons of the mousse and carefully shape into oval quenelles, then arrange them on the salad leaves. You’d pile the diced cucumber in the centre and add cress on top.
Ramekins also work well as an alternative. Line each one with cling film, spoon in the mousse, and chill overnight. Turn them out onto the plates when you’re ready to serve, using the same cling film trick Berry uses for her Chilled Salmon Terrine.
What’s the difference between this and smoked salmon pâté?
The key difference is the whipped cream. A pâté blends salmon with butter and cream cheese into a dense, spreadable paste. This mousse folds in whipped cream at the end, so it’s lighter and airier.
Berry’s Hot-Smoked Salmon and Dill Pâté from the AGA Cookbook uses butter and cream cheese with no whipped cream at all. The serving style differs completely too.
Pâté goes into a pot with toast on the side. This mousse is plated individually with cucumber salad and a smoked salmon rosette, so it feels more like a restaurant starter.
How far ahead can I prepare this for a dinner party?
Berry gives generous make-ahead windows in the recipe. The mousses themselves keep for up to 2 days in the fridge, covered in their rings. The cucumber salad holds for 6 hours, though you should add the dressing just before serving so the cucumber stays crisp.
The fully plated dishes can be assembled and chilled for up to 6 hours before your guests arrive. That’s Berry’s entertaining philosophy throughout Family Sunday Lunches: she designs recipes so the cook isn’t stuck in the kitchen while everyone else is having drinks.
Why does Berry use horseradish and tomato purée in a salmon mousse?
The horseradish adds a subtle warmth that lifts the richness of the cream and salmon. It’s not enough to taste distinctly of horseradish, but it stops the mousse from being one-dimensional. Berry uses the same pairing in her Chilled Salmon Terrine, where she adds a full tablespoon of hot horseradish sauce.
The tomato purée serves a similar background role, deepening the pink colour and adding a savoury note. Together with the Tabasco and lemon juice, these ingredients create balance so the salmon flavour stays at the front.
Without them, you’d have something that tastes mostly of cream with a hint of fish. Berry uses the same horseradish-salmon pairing in her Chilled Salmon Terrine, where she adds a full tablespoon of hot horseradish sauce for even more warmth.
What should I serve alongside this mousse?
Berry suggests small bread rolls, which keep the plate simple and let the mousse be the focus. Brown bread and butter would work equally well, and she pairs most of her salmon starters with brown bread across her other books.
For a Christmas or celebration meal, you could follow Berry’s menu suggestions from Family Sunday Lunches and serve this before a roast. A crisp white wine or champagne pairs well with the richness. Something light like Berry’s Iced Fairy Cakes would round out the meal without being too heavy after a rich starter.
