More Than Sweet

Almond sorbet with strawberries and vanilla olive oil

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A refreshing and not overly sweet treat perfect for warm summer afternoons or as a light dessert. The almond sorbet is my variation on the traditional Sicilian almond granita typically eaten for breakfast.

Almond sorbet

650ml water
100g sugar
50g glucose syrup
17g dextrose
6g ice cream stabiliser (or 2,5g locust bean gum)
150g blanched almonds or almond flour
Pinch of salt, to taste

Mix ice cream stabiliser with 15g of the sugar, set aside. Add water, remaining sugar, glucose and dextrose to a pot and warm up to 35-36C. Add stabiliser mix, whisking to dissolve, and warm up to 85C. Remove from heat and cool to 60C. Transfer to a blender with the blanched almonds and blend until a very smooth mixture. Pass through a fine meshed sieve, season to taste with salt and pour into a bowl. Cover with clingfilm and age overnight in the fridge.

Use an immersion blender to emulsify the sorbet base before churning in an ice cream maker.

Freeze for at least an hour in the freezer after churning, before plating the sorbet.

Strawberries with vanilla olive oil

250ml fruity olive oil
1 empty vanilla bean
300g strawberries
Pinch of salt
Fresh herbs (lemon verbena, orange tagetes, basil, lemon balm, lemon thyme…)
Raspberry vinegar

Infuse the vanilla bean in the olive oil for at least a few days, up to 2 weeks. Rinse and hull the strawberries. Cut them in quarters, drizzle them with vanilla olive oil and a tiny pinch of salt. Arrange the strawberries in four bowls, drizzle with a little raspberry vinegar and garnish with fresh herbs. Serve with a quenelle of almond sorbet.

Costa Rica Vanilla Panna Cotta

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vanilla panna cotta

The intense prune, cognac and caramel notes of the Costa Rica vanilla bean and adding salt to the panna cotta mixture makes the velvety custard taste almost like the best vanilla bean salted caramel

Costa Rica Vanilla Panna Cotta

Serves 4-6

400ml heavy cream
300ml whole milk
1 Costa Rica vanilla bean, split lengthwise

75g granulated sugar
4 gelatine leaves hydrated in cold water (or 7,5g gelatine powder dissolved in 60ml cold water)
1/2-3/4 tsp. salt, to taste

Heat the heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla seeds and empty bean to just below boiling. Remove the pot from heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes, but overnight is even better for maximum flavour extraction.

Reheat the milk mixture with the sugar while stirring to to fully dissolve. Squeeze excess water from gelatine sheets and add to the hot vanilla cream and stir until gelatine is fully dissolved. Season to taste with salt.

Pour the warm vanilla cream through a mesh sieve into a pouring jug and leave to cool at room temperature for an hour, stirring every once in a while to prevent vanilla seeds from settling at the bottom.

The panna cotta mixture will start to thicken and set slightly, but should still be a pourable consistency. Pour panna cotta mixture into 4-6 silicone moulds or oiled ramekins and leave to set in the fridge, this will take anywhere from 2-4 hours. If using silicone moulds, freeze panna cottas in the freezer for easier unmoulding, then leave to thaw completely on the plates before serving.

The panna cotta is delicious on its own, but it could also be served with stewed prunes, basil-apple salsa, brandied cherries or pear sorbet. Or make the panna cotta with floral and anisey Tahitian vanilla beans and my white peach & tarragon sorbet.

Salt & olive oil gelato

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Olive oil gelato

700ml whole milk
65g skimmed milk powder 
100g granulated sugar
40g liquid glucose 
4g ice cream stabiliser 
125ml fruity olive oil
A generous pinch of salt

Start by mixing the stabiliser with 15g sugar, then set the mixture aside. Add whole milk, skimmed milk powder, the remaining sugar and liquid glucose to a heavy-duty pot. Warm the mixture up to 40C, before whisking in stabiliser mixture and warming up to 84C while stirring continuously. Remove from heat and emulsify using an immersion blender until homogenous. Pour ice cream mixture into a lidded container and age in the fridge overnight. Aging the ice cream mixture will improve both texture and flavour of the ice cream. Next day add the olive oil to your ice cream mix and blend using an immersion blender. Season with a generous pinch of salt to your taste, then churn the ice cream mixture in an ice cream maker.

Transfer ice cream to a lidded container, then freeze for at least an hour. If frozen for longer, thaw the ice cream in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, before serving. The olive oil gelato is delicious with chocolate desserts, fresh fruit or on its own, I love it sprinkled with the olive oil crumble for a bit of crunch.

Note: If you don’t have an ice cream maker at home, you can still make a delicious ice cream. It just takes a little longer, and a bit more work on your part. Instead of churning in the machine, pour the mixture into a suitable container and freeze for 30 minutes. You then whisk the mixture with a hand mixer or whisk to break all the ice crystals that are forming. Repeat this process every 30 minutes for 2-3 hours, until the ice cream is smooth and without any ice crystals left. Freeze for at least an hour before serving.

Tarte au vinaigre a l’ananas

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TARTE AU VINAIGRE A L’ANANAS

Makes 6 tarts

PÂTE SUCRÉE

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g almond flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, almond flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the dough and line six 12cm calisson tart rings with the pastry. Trim the edges and rest for another 15-30 minutes in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 175C and preface the tart shells for about 8-10 minutes, until pale golden, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

PINEAPPLE VINEGAR CUSTARD

275g eggs (about 5 eggs)
1 egg yolk
200g granulated sugar
180ml heavy cream 
150ml pineapple vinegar 
Pinch of salt

Stir together eggs, yolk and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved. Leave for 30 minutes while roasting the pineapple. Gently stir in the heavy cream followed by the pineapple vinegar and season with a pinch of salt. Skim off any foam on the surface of the custard.

BERGAMOT OLIVE OIL ROASTED PINEAPPLE

1 medium sized pineapple
3 Tbsp. Bergamot olive oil
6 Tbsp. brown sugar 
1 Tbsp. pineapple vinegar 

Preheat the oven to 175C. Cut the ends off the pineapple and carefully slice the skin off and remove the “eyes”. Quarter pineapple and remove the stem in the center. Place the plneapples in a baking tray, mix sugar, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pour over the pineapple.

Roast for 30 minutes, until the pineapple is just tender, basting every 10 minutes with the syrup.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Turn oven heat down to 140C.

Cut pineapple into roughly 0,5×0,5cm cubes. Place in a single layer on the bottom of the tart shells, gently pour over the custard and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the custard is just set, but there’s a soft wobble in the center. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve at room temperature.

Green tea-olive oil apple tart with vanilla ice cream

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Green tea-olive oil apple tart with vanilla ice cream
Tahiti vanilla ice cream 

1 Tahiti vanilla bean
650ml whole milk
65ml heavy cream
65g skimmed milk powder 
100g sugar
40g liquid glucose  
4g ice cream stabiliser 
Pinch of salt 

Mix stabiliser with 15g sugar, set aside. Scrape the vanilla bean and add seeds and pod with milk, cream, milk powder, remaining sugar and glucose in a heavy-duty pot. Warm up to 40C, whisk in stabiliser mixture and bring up to 84C while stirring continuously. Remove from heat and age in the fridge overnight. Emulsify using an immersion blender, season with a generous pinch of salt to taste and churn in an ice cream maker.

Green tea-olive oil apple tarts

Makes six 7,5cm tarts

Pâte sucrée

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g almond flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, almond flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the dough and line six 7,5cm tart rings with the pastry.

Trim the edges and rest for another 15-30 minutes in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 175C and bake the tarts for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Green tea-apple compote

3 medium green apples, peeled cored and cut into small cubes
50ml strong brewed Sencha green tea (I used this)

Cook apples in the green tea for 15-20 minutes, until apples are very soft. Mash with a fork until a chunky compote and leave to cool in the refrigerator.

Olive oil ganache

200g white chocolate, chopped
25g honey  
100ml heavy cream
125ml fruity olive oil (I used this)
Pinch of salt 

Add the chopped white chocolate to a heat proof bowl. Bring cream and honey to a boil over medium heat and pour over the white chocolate. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate is melted, and continue to stir while slowly drizzling in the olive oil. If mixture begins to split, emulsify using an immersion blender. Season with salt to taste. Pour the ganache into a piping bag, and set aside.

Divide the cooled apple compote between the tart shells and top with olive oil ganache. Leave the ganache to set in the fridge for an hour.

Assemble and serve

6 green apples
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. honey
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt

Mix lemon juice, honey and salt in a shallow bowl. Slice one apple at a time thinly on a mandolin and use af 1cm round cutter to cut small discs of apple and macerate for 5 minutes in the mixture.

Arrange the apple discs on top of the olive oil ganache, finishing each tart before slicing apples for the next. This prevents the apple discs from becoming too soft in the maceration liquid.

Sprinkle with crushed green tea and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a little olive oil crumble

Rhubarb tarts with vanilla & pink grapefruit

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Makes six 7,5cm tarts

Pâte sucrée

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g almond flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, almond flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the dough and line six 7,5cm tart rings with the pastry.

Trim the edges and rest for another 15-30 minutes in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 175C and bake the tarts for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Tahitian vanilla cremeux

125ml heavy cream
125ml whole milk
4 egg yolks
35g sugar
1 Tahitian vanilla bean
3 leaves gelatine
Pinch of salt

Soak gelatine leaves in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and mix with the sugar, beat with egg yolks until pale and very airy. Bring milk and cream to just below boiling with the empty vanilla bean, remove from heat and pour 1/2 into the egg mix while whisking rigourously. Return to heat and warm up to 85C while whisking continuously. Remove from heat, squeeze excess water from the gelatine and stir into the hot custard, until it is fully dissolved. Season with a pinch of salt. Strain into a clean bowl and press a piece of clingfilm directly against the surface to prevent a skin forming. Chill until fully set.

Roasted rhubarb

8-10 slender rhubarb stalks, washed and trimmed
80g sugar
Juice of 1/2 grapefruit

Preheat oven to 200C. Cut the rhubarb to fit the six tart rings snuggly and place in a roasting tin. Sprinkle with sugar and grapefruit juice and roast for 10-12 minutes, until they are fork tender, but not mushy. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

When ready to serve, whip the cremeux until soft and creamy and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe the cremeux into the tart shells and top with the rhubarb batons. Serve within a few hours of assembly.

Salted caramel snow egg with pickled apple & vanilla creme anglaise

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Salted caramel snow egg with pickled apple & vanilla creme anglaise

Created for Mette Ravn Vanilje

Serves 6

Creme anglaise

250ml heavy cream
250ml whole milk
1 tahiti vanilla bean, seeds of
50g sugar 
5 egg yolks
Generous pinch of salt, to taste

Add heavy cream, whole milk and the vanilla seeds to a heavy bottom saucepan and warm up to just below boiling. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and very airy in a heatproof bowl. Remove vanilla bean from the milk mixture and set aside, warm back up to just below boiling and pour 1/2 of the warm milk into the egg mixture while whisking rapidly. Return egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat while stirring constantly, until custard reaches 85C on an instant read thermometer. Remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl, add the vanilla bean and cover with cling film. Leave to cool completely in the fridge.

Pickled apple

3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
200ml water
100g sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 empty tahiti vanilla bean

Bring water, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla bean to a boil. Remove from heat, add the apple dices and leave to quick pickle for 5 minutes. Remove the apple dices from the pickling liquid and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Salted caramel meringue

165g sugar
5 egg whites
Generous pinch of salt

Caramelise the sugar until a deep amber color and pour onto a silicone mat or piece of baking paper to set. When the caramel is completely hardened, grind it to a fine powder in a food processor. Sieve off any large pieces of caramel.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then add the caramel powder 1 Tbsp. at a time until it is fully incorporated. Then beat to a stiff, glossy meringue. Season with salt to taste.

Bring a wide shallow pan of water to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat. Quenelle 6 meringue eggs into the warm water and poach for 2 minutes, before gently turning them over and poaching a minute or two on the other side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the poached meringue from the water and drain on a kitchen towel.

To serve, divide the apple dices in the centre of six bowls and pour over the chilled creme anglaise. Place a poached meringue on top of the apples and serve immediately.

Paris-Brest in the springtime

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Paris-Brest with caramelised buttermilk mousseline & pickled apple, apple sorbet and citrus herbs

For the sorbet, replace pears with an equal amount of apples.

Caramelised buttermilk mousseline

150ml heavy cream
75g sugar
4 egg yolks
25g all-purpose flour
25g corn starch
350ml buttermilk
150g softened butter, divided

Slowly caramelise the heavy cream on a nonstick pan over medium high heat, scraping the bottom once in a while, until the cream turns a a light caramel color.

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, flour and egg yolks until no lumps remain. Whisk in buttermilk and caramelised heavy cream. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil, cook while whisking rigorously for a few minutes to thicken the cream and cook out the starches. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Stir in 75g of butter until combined, cover with clingfilm and let cool. When the cream is room temperature, whisk in the remaining 75g butter and transfer to a piping bag with an open star nozzle. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Pickled apple

2 apples, peeled and cut into small balls
100g sugar
100ml water
1 Tbsp apple vinegar
A few sprigs of verbena, lemon balm and lemon thyme

Bring sugar, water, vinegar and herbs to a boil, and boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, cool for 15 minutes then add apple balls. Leave for 5-10 minutes, check to make sure apples are not mushy, then remove apple balls from pickling liquid.

Vanilla choux

Makes 6 choux rings

80g whole milk 
80g water
65g butter
5g sugar 
2g salt 
100g strong bread flour, sieved
140-160g whisked eggs 
*1 empty vanilla bean leftover from other purposes 
2-3 Tbsp. icing sugar
Flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 175C.

Add milk, water, butter, vanilla bean if using, sugar and salt to a pan and warm up over low heat until butter is melted. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and remove from heat as soon as the milk mixture is boiling. Remove vanilla bean and rigourously whisk in flour until a homogenous paste, return to low heat and cook the dough for a few minutes. Be careful not to scrape off the thin film that forms on the pan.

Transfer dough to a bowl and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Beat in egg a little at a time, you might not need all of it, until dough falls off the spoon in a V. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe six 7,5cm circles on a piece of parchment paper. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until puffy and golden brown all over. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

To assemble and serve
Floral olive oil
Icing sugar
Lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme

Cut choux rings in half, pipe caramelised buttermilk mousseline on the bottom half and arrange pickled apple balls on top of the mousseline. Place the upper half of the choux rings back on top of the apples and dust with icing sugar.

Serve with a few extra apple balls, fresh herbs, dots of floral olive oil and citrus herbs

Spiced maple mille feuille with basil-apple salsa

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Spiced maple mille feuille with apple-basil salsa

Makes 4 mille feuilles

Puff pastry

260g all-purpose flour
150ml ice water
200g cold butter
Icing sugar

Quickly mix together flour and ice water until a shaggy dough, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Beat the butter block with a rolling pin to a pliable 10x10cm rectangle. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 10 minutes.

Roll out the dough to an 18x18cm square on a lightly floured workbench. Place the butter in the center of the dough and fold the corners of the dough over the butter, so they meet in the middle. Pinch to thoroughly seal the dough around the butter. Flip the dough, so the seal faces downwards and roll out to a 30x15cm rectangle. Make a letter fold, turn 45 degrees and roll out again to a 30x15cm rectangle. Make another letter fold and wrap lightly in clingfilm, rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Repeat this process three more time for a total of 6 turns. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for at least a few hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 200C. Roll out dough to 4-5mm thickness. Using a 10cm oval cutter, cut out 12 pastry leaves and place at least 3cm apart on a baking tray lined with parchment. Place a piece of parchment on top and another baking tray on top of the parchment. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway.

Remove top baking tray and parchment, dust with icing sugar and bake for another 3-5 minutes, until icing sugar is melted and caramelised.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. 2 cups milk (480ml)

Spiced maple creme mousseline

450ml whole milk
4 egg yolks
90g maple syrup
4 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 habanero
A pinch of salt
150g softened, unsalted butter

Warm up the maple syrup, add the habanero and infuse for 5 minutes. Remove the chili and leave the maple syrup to cool to room temperature.

Whisk together maple syrup, salt, egg yolks and corn starch, set aside.

Bring milk to just below boiling and pour over 1/4 of the milk. Pour the mixture back into the pot and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Cook for a few minutes while whisking rigorously, remove from heat and whisk in 75g of butter. Cover with clingfilm and leave to cool to room temperature.

Add the remaining butter and whisk until smooth and very creamy. Season to taste. Transfer to a piping bag with a 1cm nozzle.

Apple basil salsa

2 green apples, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. finely chopped basil leaves
Pinch of salt

Mix everything together, season to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Pipe spiced maple mousseline on 4 pastry leaves. Spoon apple salsa on top of the mousseline in the centre of the leaves and top with another layer of pastry. Repeat with mousseline and apple salsa. Dust the remaining four pastry leaves with icing sugar and place on top of the mille feuilles.

Serve.

Spiced hibiscus apple tart with hazelnut ice cream and brown butter crumble

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Spiced hibiscus apple tart, hazelnut gelato and brown butter crumble
Spiced hibiscus apple tart with hazelnut gelato and brown butter crumble

Hazelnut gelato

650ml whole milk
65ml heavy cream
65g skimmed milk powder
60g sugar
80g liquid glucose
4g ice cream stabiliser
100g roasted hazelnut paste
Pinch of salt

Mix stabiliser with 15g sugar, set aside. Add milk, cream, milk powder, remaining sugar and glucose in a heavy-duty pot. Warm up to 40C, whisk in stabiliser mixture and bring up to 84C while stirring continuously. Remove from heat and age in the fridge overnight. Mix with hazelnut paste and emulsify using an immersion blender, season with a pinch of salt and churn in an ice cream maker.

Brown butter crumble

50g browned butter, cooled
50g all purpose flour
30g sugar
15g hazelnut flour

Rub browned butter, flour, sugar and hazelnut flour together until the texture is like wet sand. Spread into a thin layer on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake at 175C for 30 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Hazelnut pâte sucrée

75 g butter at room temperature 
50g confectioners sugar
1/2 egg 
15g hazelnut flour
125g all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together butter and confectioners sugar. Beat in the egg, then gently stir in flour, hazelnut flour and salt. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll out the dough and line six 10cm calisson tart rings with the dough. Trim the edges and rest for another 15-30 minutes in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 175C and bake the tarts for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla cremeux

330g heavy cream 
60g sugar
1 gelatin sheets 
1 vanilla bean
70g egg yolks 
1/2 tsp. salt

Rehydrate the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.

Heat heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat.

Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, mix with a tbsp. of the sugar and use a knife to rub the vanilla and sugar together. Mix the vanilla sugar with the remaining sugar and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk until very pale and and airy. Remove the hot cream from the heat, remove gelatin and squeeze to remove excess water before stirring into the cream. Slowly pour the cream into the egg mixture, transfer back into the saucepan and cook on low heat until thickened and the mixture reaches 82C on an instant read thermometer. Pour the cremeux into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 4 hours.

Vanilla caramel

125g sugar
125ml heavy cream
1/2 empty vanilla bean, leftover from cremeux
Pinch of salt

Bring the cream to a boil, remove from heat and add the vanilla bean. Leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes.

Add sugar to a small saucepan and caramelise until it is a dark amber color. Remove the vanilla bean, then pour in half the warm cream while stirring vigorously. Add the remaining cream and whisk to a golden caramel sauce, season with a pinch of salt. Remove from heat and pour into a jar. Leave to cool to room temperature.

Spiced hibiscus syrup

300ml water 
Juice of 1/2 lemon 
75g sugar
15g dried hibiscus flowers 
1/2 empty vanilla bean 
2 cinnamon sticks 
1 5cm piece of liquorice root 
5g whole green cardamom 
5g fennel seeds
5g cloves 
5g star anise 
2g black peppercorns
1 Tbsp. Rosewater
50ml spiced rum 

Add the water, sugar, hibiscus flowers, lemon juice and spices into a large saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and leave to infuse for an hour. Pour through a sieve, discard the spices before adding rosewater and spiced rum. Cool completely in the fridge.

To assemble and serve

9 apples
Thyme

Pipe a thin layer of vanilla caramel in the bottom of each tart shell and pipe the cremeux on top of the vanilla caramel. Thinly slice the apples. Cut 90 larger leaves and 78 slightly smaller leaves from the apple slices and brush with cold hibiscus syrup. Place the larger leaves along the edge of the tart shells and the smaller leaves on top in the centre. Garnish with thyme leaves and serve with a quenelle of hazelnut gelato on top of a spoonful of brown butter crumble.