This recipe is modeled after the prettiest counter service dessert in Disney World, the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse in Pandora: World of Avatar! Found at Satu'li Canteen, a blueberry cream cheese mousse dome is topped with a mound of passion fruit curd and a drop of sugary meringue.
"Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse with Passion Fruit Curd"
While the flavors alone aren't other-worldly, the look of this dessert transports us to Pandora: World of Avatar. Modeled after the inhabitants of Pandora, the blueberry and passion fruit domes resemble the Na'vi's vibrant blue skin and striking yellow eyes.
When crafting dome desserts, silicone molds are the secret behind achieving these flawlessly-shaped treats. The Silikomart “Stone” silicone mold (affiliate link) is the perfect match for Sa'tuli Canteen's mousses. This includes the scrumptious, seasonal Pumpkin Cream Cheese Mousse.
And what about the dessert's shiny, blue outside? That's mirror glaze, a scrumptious combination of gelatin, sugar, condensed milk, and white chocolate. All these ingredients mingle to form a pourable glaze whose surface reflects like a mirror. Pretty sìlronsem (clever), as the Na'vi would say!
This copycat recipe for Disney Pandora: World of Avatar's Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse is a labor of love made over the course of at least 2 days. The act of trying to recreate this iconic dessert makes us even more thankful for the talented people creating Disney park's many culinary masterpieces.
We look forward to the next time we grab a Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse (for a mere 5 bucks a pop, no less; best deal in Disney). In the meantime, we're happy to bring this taste of Pandora to our home, and we hope you feel the same!
Servings: 4 desserts
Ingredients
- 1 pint blueberries, fresh (This is about 2 cups.)
- 1.75 cups +2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, separated (1/2 cup for the blueberry sauce, 1 tablespoon for the cream cheese, 2 tablespoons for the passionfruit curd, 1/3 cup for the cake, 2/3 cup for the mirror glaze, and 1/4 cup for the meringue)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 4 + 3/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin, separated (1/2 teaspoon for the blueberry sauce, 1/4 teaspoon for the passion fruit curd and 4 teaspoons for the mirror glaze)
- 1/2 cup + 5 teaspoons water, separated (4 teaspoons for the blueberry sauce, 1 teaspoon for the passion fruit curd and 1/2 cup for the mirror glaze)
- 5 ounces cream cheese, plain
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup passion fruit innards (scrape out the entire insides of the fruits including pulp, juice and seeds) (This is 2 - 3 passion fruits.)
- 2 eggs, separated (2 egg yolks for the passion fruit curd, 1 egg white for the cake, and 1 egg white for meringue)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, separated (2 tablespoons for the passion fruit curd and 2 tablespoons for the cake)
- Yellow food coloring
- 1 pinch of cream of tartar
- 2 dashes of salt, separated (1 for the cake and 1 for the meringue)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla
- Cooking spray
- 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
- Blue food coloring (We used about 25 drops of Wilton Color Right blue food coloring.)
- white food coloring
- Silicone molds used:
- Silikomart "Stone" Silicone Mold (affiliate link) (This is for the blueberry mousse.)
- Dome mold with at least four, 1.5" basins (This for the passion fruit curd.)
- You'll also need:
- 8" round cake pan
- Food-safe paintbrush
- Parchment paper
- Piping bag and tip to pipe the meringues
- Candy thermometer
Instructions
- Start by making the blueberry sauce. In small bowl, whisk 1/2 teaspoon gelatin with 4 teaspoons water and set aside for the gelatin to bloom.
- In a medium saucepan, combine blueberries, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and lemon juice and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently. Once the sugar dissolves, cook for an additional 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Pour the blueberries and sauce through a wire mesh strainer and into a bowl. Mash the blueberries into the strainer and scrape the bottom of the strainer with a spoon to scrape any remaining sauce into the bowl.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the blueberry sauce for mousse and place the rest (you should have about 2 to 4 tablespoons left) in the refrigerator for plating sauce.
- Working quickly (the sauce should still be hot), to 1/2 cup blueberry sauce, whisk in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved. Set the sauce aside to cool for 20 minutes.
- Once the 1/2 cup blueberry sauce has cooled, it's time to make blueberry mousse! In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cream cheese and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Add the blueberry sauce/gelatin mixture and continue to mix until combined, making sure any chunks of cream cheese are gone.
- Next, you'll make whipped cream. In a small bowl, add the heavy whipping cream. Mix with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Add the whipped cream to the blueberry cream cheese mixture and fold until combined. Folding keeps the mixture keeps airy and light, so resist the urge to stir.
- Place your Silikomart "stone" mold on a plate that's suitable for the freezer. Spoon the blueberry mousse into 4 of the basins and place in the freezer overnight.
- Passion fruit curd is next! In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 teaspoon gelatin with 1 teaspoon water and set aside for the gelatin to bloom.
- Separate the 2 egg yolks from the whites, keeping each egg white in a separate bowl. You'll later use 1 egg white for the cake and 1 egg white for the meringue. Store the egg whites in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- In a heat-safe bowl over a double boiler, whisk together 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and the passion fruit innards. Cook, whisking occassionally, until the curd reaches 160 degrees Farenheit (food safety: DO NOT skip this step).
- Remove the curd from the heat and whisk in the bloomed gelatin until dissolved. Cube 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and whisk the butter into the curd until smooth.
- Pour the curd through a wire mesh strainer and into a bowl to remove the pulp and seeds. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the strainer with a spoon to scrape any remaining curd into the bowl.
- Finally (optional), add yellow food coloring to the curd and stir.
- Place your 1.5" dome mold on a plate that's suitable for the freezer. Spoon the passion fruit curd into 4 of the basins and place in the freezer overnight.
- Then, make the meringues. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Farenheit.
- Next, in a heat-safe bowl over a double boiler, add 1 egg white, ¼ cup granulated sugar, pinch of cream of tartar and pinch of salt. Whisk to combine.
- Whisking frequently, cook the egg mixture over high heat in the double boiler until the internal temperature of the egg mixture reaches at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit (food safety: DO NOT skip this step).
- Immediately remove the egg mixture from the heat and blend with an electric mixer, on medium-low, until thickened. You should be able to pull up the mixer and see soft peaks.
- Quickly transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip.
- On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, pipe the meringue into drops that look like Hershey Kisses. Though you only need 4 meringues, pipe as many as you can so that you can use whichever ones turn out best.
- Bake the meringues for 10 minutes, or until dry on the outside.
- Store the meringues at room temperature until ready for assembly.
- Next, make the white cake layer. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and 1 dash of salt.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl with an electric mixer, cream together 2 tablespoons of butter and 1/3 cup sugar.
- Then, add in 1 egg white and mix for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until fluffy.
- Add in half of the flour mixture, then mix. Then, add in 1 tablespoon of milk and mix.
- Repeat once more with the remaining flour mixture and 1 tablespoon milk and mix until combined. Finally, mix in the vanilla. You have your cake batter!
- Lightly spray an 8", shallow cake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Spread 1/2 cup of the cake batter in an even layer on top of the parchment paper. Then, bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 10 minutes. (Note: You will likely have about 1/4 cup batter leftover that you won't use for the recipe. Feel free to bake it up, or pitch it.)
- Once the cake is baked, run a knife along the sides of the pan, then flip the pan upside down onto a plate. Immediately remove the parchment paper.
- Use an 2" biscuit cutter or small juice glass to cut four cake circles. Set the cake circles aside for later.
- The day after you make your mousse domes, take them out of the freezer and pop them out of the molds and onto a plate. Then, return to the domes to the freezer to stay chilled while you make the blue mirror glaze. *The mousse domes must be frozen when you pour the mirror glaze on them or the glaze won't adhere properly.
- The day after you make your passion fruit domes, take them out of the freezer and pop them out of the molds and onto a plate. Then, return to the domes to the freezer to stay chilled .
- To make the blue mirror glaze, start by measuring out the ingredients. You'll need: 4 teaspoons (2 envelopes) of gelatin, ½ cup water, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, 2 cups white chocolate chips, and blue food coloring.
- Start by whisking together 4 teaspoons of gelatin and 1/2 cup water, and set aside at room temperature to bloom.
- Add 2/3 cup granulated sugar and 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk to a microwave safe bowl and stir. Microwave 2 minutes (stirring every 30 seconds) or until hot and the sugar has partially melted.
- Add the bloomed gelatin to the hot sugar/condensed milk mixture and stir until dissolved.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the white chocolate chips in microwave on 50% power just until melted, stirring every 15 to 30 seconds.
- Add the melted white chocolate to hot sugar/milk/gelatin mixture and mix thoroughly with whisk until smooth.
- Add the blue food coloring, a couple drops at a time, and whisk until the glaze is a brilliant blue color. Don't go too dark blue because the glaze will get a shade darker the longer it sits. We used about 25 drops of Wilton Color Right blue food coloring.
- Transfer the mirror glaze to a pourable dish and set aside to cool to 90 to 95 degrees Farenheit (use a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature). Do NOT continue to stir the mirror glaze while it cools or you will incorporate too many air bubbles into it. Our glaze took about 40 minutes to cool, but it may take less for you. Keep checking on the temp!
- While the glaze is cooling, let's get ready to glaze. Line your countertop with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Then, place 4 small juice glasses, upside down, on the parchment paper. You'll be resting your mousse domes on the bottom of these glasses to glaze. Rest a cake round on each glass.
- Once the glaze is 90 to 95 degrees, top each cake round with a frozen blueberry mousse.
- Remove any film that may have formed on top of mirror glaze, then slowly pour the glaze on top of each blueberry mousse dome and watch the glaze cascade down, covering the sides of the dome. It doesn't take much glaze to cover the surface of each dome, so resist the urge to keep pouring! You will have leftover glaze.
- Leave the mirror-glazed domes at room temperature for about 20 minutes to allow the mirror glaze to slightly set. The mirror glaze should be tacky to the touch.
- To assemble the finished desserts, start by splattering the blue mirror-glazed domes with white food coloring. Dip a food-safe paintbrush into the food coloring and run your finger through the brush to flick the food coloring onto the blue domes.
- Next, remove the frozen passion fruit curds from the freezer and place one on the top of each blue dome.
- To plate the blueberry mousse domes, use a finger to brace one side of the blueberry dome, then gently slide a metal spatula under the cake bottom to cut away the glaze from the glass. Then, gently transfer each blueberry mousse dome to a plate.
- Finally, press a meringue into the top of each passion fruit curd.
- Refrigerate the blueberry mousse domes for at least 6 hours to allow the blueberry cream cheese mousse to thaw. Store in the refrigerator UNCOVERED. If you place plastic wrap over the top of the dessert, it will ruin the white food coloring. This dish is best enjoyed the same day it's assembled, or the next day.
- When ready to serve, stir the reserved blueberry sauce until thin. Add a scoop of sauce to each plate. Enjoy!
Notes
This is a copycat recipe for the blueberry cream cheese mousse found at Satu’li Canteen in Pandora World of Avatar within Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
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Edain
Hey! I started to making these yesterday and I have made the meringues twice. Both times it took me 20+ minutes and even after that, they were not soft peaks. The second time I tried adding more cream of tartar and that did not help either. They also cracked both time. I tried looking this up but found nothing helpful. Do you have any suggestions/tips or is it normal for the meringues to take that long to whip?
Diznify
I am sorry for your meringue troubles, Edain! I wish I could be in your kitchen helping troubleshoot. I likely don't have suggestions that you haven't already read (mixer speed too slow or too fast, water/oil/yolk residue snuck into the mix somehow, and so on). If worse comes to worse, you could try meringue powder?
If it helps any, we generally work pretty quickly once the egg white mixture has reached the right temperature. You're right that it shouldn't take 20 minutes to reach soft peaks, and we check on the mixture every minute or so to make sure that it doesn't go past the point of soft peaks. We've also had trouble with meringues cracking after baking! We like to pipe lots of meringue drops (like 20+!), then pick out the most picture-perfect ones to use.
Wishing you good luck! If you figure out what's wrong or have further questions, please let us know!
Edain
Thanks! Everything else was great! The dessert turned out delicious and almost identical to the one we had at Disney!
Diznify
We're so glad, Edain! Thank you for letting us know!
Marley Barrett
I have found using same amount white vinegar in place of the cream of tartar works better for me. I have tried using cream of tartar multiple times with no luck. I live in the south not sure if that makes a difference in how it works.
Diznify
Thanks for the suggestion, Marley!