Citronfromage

The story

Citronfromage is an old Danish lemon mousse, set with gelatin and lightened with whipped egg whites and cream. The Skandibaking blog dates it to the 19th century and explains the name: citron is Danish for lemon, and fromage, borrowed from the French word for cheese, is the Danish term for a light, mousse-like dessert, although no cheese goes into it. Lemons were hard to get during and after World War II, the same source notes, so the dessert was kept for festive occasions. Families have since tied it to different seasons. My Danish Kitchen, whose recipe is adapted from the Danish cook Trina Hahnemann, links it with long summer evenings, while the author of Sidssea Palm Cooking writes that it was the Christmas Eve dessert in her mother's house, served after a rich meal of duck. No custom ties it to Easter, but its pale yellow color and sharp lemon flavor fit the Danish Easter lunch, where The Local notes that a lemon cake is the likely dessert. The method is simple: yolks beaten with sugar, lemon juice and zest stirred into melted gelatin, then whipped whites and cream folded through. Make it the day before so it has time to set.