Ger-Nis INTERNATIONAL, LLC

Fresh & Light Herbal Desserts

The never ending winter is finally over and so comes the end to the heavier desserts that warm us throughout winter. The telltale signs of spring are finally here - warmth, newness & life - and so begins our quest for the lighter, fresher dessert to pair perfectly with springs light but zesty flare.  The allure of bringing in lighter, fresher and lower -fat desserts allows us to still indulge in the sweets while remaining true to our typical promises t healthier and lighter eating.  Fresh herbs become the perfect addition and enhancement to these desserts with their sensual flavors and smooth pizzazz they bring to most dishes.

Extremely diverse and often overlooked in the arena of desserts, fresh herbs versatility goes beyond normal versatility and a long way towards excitement in flavor while still remaining light.  Herbs can be infused in creams, sorbets, and ices as well as candied or sugared.  They can be made into sweet syrups and added to batters and dough. 

Fresh herb’s exotic fresh flavors are quite simple to incorporate into your spring desserts.  All you need is a little know how and a lot of sweet craving for the “fresh and light” of spring’s desserts.  There are a few things to know when incorporating fresh herbs into desserts:

• Flavors should be complimentary but not overpowering, strong flavored herbs like sage, rosemary and basil incorporate well with stronger flavored fruits like pineapple, berries while the subtler flavored herbs, thyme, tarragon incorporate better with milder flavored fruits like the stones fruits, pomegranates and pears.


• Add herbs to old seasonal favorites, cut out some sugar and fat and add a more exotic and diverse flavor:  Strawberry shortcake with basil crème fresh; strawberry basil sorbet; sage pineapple upside down cake.


• Some of the most unexpected herbs make the best flavorings for spring’s light desserts: tarragon & spring’s last bit of citrus; sweet & dusty marjoram is perfumey and amazing in custards; rosemary not only is an herb perfectly designed for sugaring  but is perfect in light sweet dough or with ices or perfect for a spring rhubarb crisp.


• Simple herbed sugars are an easy way to add flavor to basic light spring fruits keeping it simple, fresh and still sweet.  Click here for herbal sugar ideas http://ger-nis.com/herb_blurbs/2009_spring/hot_herb_trends

When it comes to flavoring spring’s fresh and light desserts with fresh herbs, most important, more than any of the tricks, tips and know how, is to be creative and faith in the fresh herb!!

Here are a few of our latest ideas for spring’s best & most herby, fresh & light desserts!

Grapefruit Brulee With Tarragon & Tarragon Crème Fresh
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium ruby red grapefruits, segmented and pithed
¼ cup tarragon sugar see recipe http://ger-nis.com/herb_blurbs/2009_spring/hot_herb_trends
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped fine
⅓ cup crème fresh
1 tablespoon ruby red grapefruit juice (reserved from segmenting the grapefruit)

Directions

Preheat broiler.  Arrange grapefruit in 4 shallow ovenproof dishes (individual tart dishes).  Sprinkle grapefruit wedges with tarragon sugar.  Place under broiler until sugar melts and grapefruit caramelizes and turns a dark color (careful not to burn!)  Broil for approximately 4 minutes.  Take away from heat.  Quickly mix crème fresh, tarragon and grapefruit juice and serve a dollop on top of broiled grapefruit dishes.  Serve warm.

Strawberry Buckwheat Crepes With Lemon Thyme Sweet Cream

 

For the Crepes…

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
3 eggs
Juice of ½ lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon thyme leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup buckwheat flour
¾ cup all purpose white flour

Directions

Whisk together all ingredients until smooth, or use a blender to blend, until very smooth.  Chill batter overnight.  Before frying the batter, whisk again and make sure the consistency is that of heavy cream.  Heat a non stick skillet or a crepe pan on medium high heat, grease pan with a tiny amount of butter and rub it around the pan until the pan is coated with the butter.  Pour about 1 /4 cup of the batter in the pan and swirl the batter around in the pan until it is distributed evenly and thinly.  Cook for about one minute and flip over when it is lightly browned.  Cook on both sides.  Fill crepes with filling and roll, drizzling some filling on top as well.

For the Strawberry Lemon Thyme Cream Filling…

Ingredients

½ cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ tablespoon lemon thyme leaves
1 cup strawberries, cleaned and sliced

Directions

Gently mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl and allow to sit for at least one hour.

Rosemary Lavender Buttermily Donuts With Lavender Sugar
(Recipe Adapted from Canille at Vanille Blogspot)

 

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose white flour
¼ cup almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fresh lavender, chopped fine
2 teaspoons sea salt
½ cup whole milk, room temperature
½ cup plain white Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup butter, melted
Canola oil for frying

Lavender Rosemary Sugar for Dusting…

Ingredients

1 cup sugar, white
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fresh lavender flowers, chopped fine

Directions

In a large bowl mix together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, rosemary/lavender, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, yogurt, vanilla, sugar, eggs and melted butter. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and fold until it comes together. Don't worry if it's lumpy.

Dust your work surface with a bit of flour and dump the dough on it. Knead lightly until it comes together. Dust the top lightly with flour and roll to ½" thick. Using a doughnut cutter or two round cookie cutters, cut out the doughnuts and place them on a sheet pan with a silicon mat or parchment and dusted with some flour.

To fry the doughnuts, fill a pan up to 2" of canola oil. Heat the oil until it reaches 375˚F. Do not over-crowd the pan with doughnuts. Fry about 5 at a time (depending on the size of the pan). They will sink to the bottom but then float to the top. Turn them over and let them cook for an additional 2 minutes or so.

Drain them on paper towels and while hot, coat them with the lavender-rosemary sugar.

Rosemary Rhubarb Sorbet
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cups rhubarb, chopped fine
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
⅓ cup rosemary leaves, chopped

Directions

Make a simple syrup in a medium saucepan by combining the sugar and water, rhubarb and chopped rosemary. Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves, simmer for 5 minutes, and take off burner, cool and set syrup aside. In a food processor, blend syrup mixture until a puree forms. Follow ice cream maker instructions for making sorbet.

Strawberry Shortcake With Orange-Basil Biscuits and Sweet Pesto Cream
Serves 6

Ingredients

For the Strawberry Filling…

3 cups strawberries, de-stemmed and sliced thick
½ cup turbinado sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped fine

Directions

Place all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and gently stir.  Let soak for at least 30 minutes.

For the Orange Basil Biscuits…

3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons butter, cold & cut into cubes
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons orange zest
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, sliced into thin strips

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl and gently mix.  Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or a fork until the largest pieces of butter are the size of peas. (Or pulse several times in a food processor.) Combine the cream, zest, orange juice and basil in a measuring cup. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the cream mixture into the well. Mix with a fork until the dough is evenly moistened and just combined; it should look shaggy and still feel a little dry. Gently knead by hand five or six times to create a loose ball.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat it into an 8-inch square, ¾ to 1 inch thick. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment, cover with plastic and chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Heat the oven to 425ºF. Remove the dough from refrigerator. Cut the dough into 6-10 even shapes of your choice, circles, squares, triangles, etc. and spread them about 2 inches apart from each other on the baking sheet. Bake until the biscuits are medium golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.

For the Pesto Sweet Cream…

Ingredients

¼ cup fresh basil leaves
½ cup heavy cream
1-2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

In a blender or with a hand held food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth, strain mixture with cheesecloth for fine pesto cream or use as is for a chunky, denser sweet cream.

To assemble biscuits…

Slice baked biscuits in half, spoon strawberry mixture on one half, cover with other half and drizzle with sweet pesto cream.

Tangerine & Basil Yogurt Granita
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup tangerine juice
½ cup basil leaves, chopped
1 cup plain Greek style yogurt

Directions

Make a simple syrup in a medium saucepan by combining the sugar, water, tangerine juice and chopped fresh basil. Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves, simmer for 5 minutes, take off burner, cool, strain, and set syrup aside. Whisk together simple syrup and  yogurt until a smooth texture forms. Pour into a low dish and freeze. Using a fork, scrape puree every 20 minutes while it freezes. This should create flaky crystals. Keep frozen dish covered while freezing. Freeze and scrape until desired consistency.

Fresh Pineapple & Sage Granita
Serves 4

 

1 pineapple, peeled , cored and cubed
1 cup sugar
¼ cup fresh sage, chopped

Blend up all ingredients using a hand held food processor.  Pour into a low dish cover and freeze.  Scrape puree every 20 minutes while it freezes, this should create flaky crystals.  Freeze and scrape until desired consistency.