herbdessert

Cooking with Herbs

The Desserts

Try some of these DESSERT recipes making use of Herbs.

GERANIUM LEAF SORBET

12 scented geranium leaves
75 g or 3 oz or 6 tabs. sugar
300 ml or 1/2 pint or 1 1/4 cups water
juice of 1 large lemon
1 egg white
4 tiny geranium leaves to decorate.

Wash leaves and shake dry. Put sugar and water in pan and boil until sugar has dissolved. Put leaves in pan, cover it, and turn off the heat. Leave 20 minutes

then taste. If flavour is too weak, bring liquid to boil once more, turn off the heat, cover the pan, and leave for a further 10 minutes.
When flavour is satisfactory, strain the syrup into a rigid container, add lemon juice, and leave to cool. Freeze until semi-frozen, about 45 to 60 minutes, then fold in the stiffly beaten egg white. Continue to freeze until a firm mush, about 1 hour. Serve in glasses, each one decorated with a tiny geranium leaf.

ELDER FLOWER FRITTERS

12 elder flower heads oil for deep frying
caster sugar for dredging.
BATTER --
100 g or 4 oz or 1 cup all-purpose flour,
2 tabs. sunflowerseed oil, pinch sea salt
150 ml or 1/4 pt or 2/3 cup warm water.
1 egg white.

To make batter, sift flour into bowl and add salt. Stir in oil and mix in enough lukewarm water to give consistency of fairly thick cream. Leave to stand for 1 to 2 hours in a cool place. Just before using, beat egg white in a bowl until it is stiff and fold into the batter.
Rinse the elder flower heads and shake them dry in a cloth. Dip each one in the batter, shaking off any excess, and drop into a large pan of oil heated to 180C/360F. Do not try to fry them all at once, as they must not be crowded.
When each batch is done, drain briefly on crumpled paper towels then lay them on a serving dish in a warm place until others are done. Sprinkle with sugar and serve straight away.

ROSE HIP SAUCE
225g or 8oz or 2 cups rose hips, 450 ml or 3/4 pt or 2 cups water,
225 g or 8 oz or 1 cup sugar.

Cut each rose hip in half with sharp knife. Put water in pan with sugar. Boil gently until sugar has melted, then put in the rose hips. Half cover the pan and cook gently for 1 hour, adding more boiling water from time to time, as needed.
Pour through a sieve (strainer) pressing pulp with back of spoon, then leave to cool. you should have 200 to 300 ml OR 1/3 to 1/ pint OR 7.8 to 1 1/4 cups of syrup.
This is rich in vitamin C, and is a valuable food for babies and small children .Older children and adults with a sweet tooth may like it poured over vanilla icecream.

REDCURRANT SNOW WITH MINT

150 ml or 1/4 pt or 2/3 cup heavy or thick cream
2 egg whites
150 ml or 1/4 pt or 2/3 cup unflavoured yogurt
2 tab. sugar
450 g or 1 lb or 4 cups red currants or blueberries.
2 tabs. chopped mint.

Whip the cream until thick but not dry. Beat egg whites till stiff. beat yogurt until smooth. Mix egg whites and then the yogurt into the cream, folding them in lightly. Stir in the sugar. Wash and drain the red currants or blueberries.
Pull berries off stalks and fold into cream. Stir in chopped mint and serve soon after making.

APPLES WITH SWEET CICELY
675g or 1 1/2 lb cooking apples, sugar to taste, 2 teas. chopped Sweet Cicely

Peel apples, cut out cores, and cut into slices. Put them in a heavy pan with enough water to cover bottom. Add some sugar, and cook slowly with lid on until they are soft. Stir in the Sweet Cicely and leave to cool. Serve cold, with whipped cream.

This is part of a Cooking with Herbs series, so have a look at the other sections.

Series begun July 2000
revamped 3 January 2004

Painting by Joanna