Honey and Lavender Ice-Cream

If you are lucky enough to get fresh honey with the hive intact, it’s a brilliant idea to keep the hive and use it to serve honey lavender ice cream to your guests.  This gourmet ice cream recipe is healthier than your regular ice cream because it uses honey instead of sugar, making it a perfect dessert option for sugar-conscious moms who crave for sweets. Lavender honey ice cream is a uniquely French treat that is rarely commercially available so it makes a great homemade experiment to impress your guests with something new that they haven’t tried before. 

Lavender honey can be naturally made by bees that collect only lavender nectar and are housed near fields of lavender flowers.  You can’t always get it and if it is available, is quite expensive. A more convenient and less expensive alternative is to make lavender-infused honey.  It is as simple as cooking lavender flowers in honey and putting it in a jar then leaving it for a few days until the flavor of the lavender flowers blends in with the honey. Thereafter, the lavender flowers are strained to make this delicious dessert. 

Honey lavender ice cream is best enjoyed with some cookies or a light pastry. For this recipe, Chef Jany Gleize combines the ice cream with a cigarette pastry made with eggs, sugar and flour.  He makes use of the hive as a bed for the golden yellow ice cream with flecks of purple lavender buds to make the plate look even more delectable and make the dessert taste and smell sweeter. Chef Glaize notes that it is very important to get fine quality lavender when making dessert, not hybrid lavender which is okay if you’re making soup.

Ingredients

250 g of lavender

honey 4 egg yolks

250 g of milk

125 g of cream small flower

400 g of dough to cigarette

7 g of lavender flower

1. The honey lavender infusion must be prepared several days before making the ice cream so that the lavender can sit in the honey and produce a more distinct flavor. Cook lavender flowers and buds in honey and store in a jar.

2. To make the ice cream, heat the milk, cream, lavender honey and eggs and stir until they are thoroughly combined and dissolved together. Let cool and put in the freezer for a few hours until they crystallize. Process the frozen ingredients in the ice cream maker and store ice cream in the fridge.

3. To make the cigarette pastry, combine sugar, flour, lavender seeds, and egg whites and mix together until it forms a creamy and even texture. Spread the cream on phyllo sheets cut in rectangular shapes place on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in a 180 degree oven for a few minutes until it browns. Once cooked, allow to cool for awhile and fold into a cylindrical shape with the aid of a rolling pin.

4. To serve, cut the hive into a rounded shape and place at the center of the plate. Scoop the ice cream and place on top of hive. Place cigarette pastry on the side and decorate with lavender flowers. Add lavender or chocolate syrup if you wish.

Chocolate Mousse Mash Up

Black, white and milk chocolate make three layers of divine chocolate mousse in this gourmet dessert recipe. The triple-layered chocolate mousse is paired with English cream flavored with mint for an out-of-this world dessert dish. Decadently sweet, refreshingly minty, wonderfully creamy and pleasurably bitter, this is the ultimate chocolate experience you wouldn’t want to miss. For superior flavor, use high quality chocolate when making this recipe.

This classic version for making chocolate mousse requires only the chocolate, butter, crème fraiche or heavy cream, and separated eggs. The classic French technique for making chocolate mousse is quite simple. You melt the chocolate gently over a pan of simmering water or using a bain-marie then stir in the egg yolks. The egg whites are whisked until they form soft peaks and gently folded into the chocolate mixture. In this recipe, the mousse is even made creamier and richer with butter and heavy cream. The mousse is placed in mold and chilled in the fridge to set.

To make three layers of chocolate mousse, you have to make the three kinds of mousse separately and then layer them in the mold. This means that you will have to repeat the procedure three times to make the dark chocolate mousse, the white chocolate mousse, and the milk chocolate mousse. You can have the dark at the bottom, the milk in the middle, and the white on top or the milk chocolate can be placed on top for a lovely contrast. Look up some luscious recipes on Gourmandia.ca.

Make sure you have plenty of time when making this very delicate recipe. The three kinds of chocolates have to be melted separately. Take note that chocolate is very sensitive to heat and scorches easily or forms into clumps. To avoid this, melt the chocolate in a saucepan or heatproof bowl over simmering water or use a double-broiler. Stir the chocolate frequently to keep it smooth using a wooden spoon or spatula.

Ingredients

The mousse:
0.44 lbs. black chocolate
0.44 lbs. white chocolate
0.44 lbs. milk chocolate
10 ½ tablespoons butte
0.33 lbs. creme fraiche (heavy cream)
15 eggs (separated)

For the English cream with mint:
2 pints milk
14 tablespoons granulated sugar
12 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod
1 bunch fresh mint

1. Line a rectangular (10x4x4) mold with sulfuric paper, folding the flaps out.

2. Chop the chocolates and melt separately. Separate 5 eggs. Boil ¼ cup crème fraiche then mix together with the black chocolate. Add 3 ½ tablespoons butter and the egg yolks.

3. Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt. When it’s already fluffy or foamy, add some sugar then whip just a little more. Take a portion of this then whisk with the black chocolate. Fold in the rest of the fluffy egg whites, delicately lifting it using a rubber spatula. Pour the first mousse into the mold then with the back of a spoon, spread to smoothen and flatten. Place in the freezer for about half an hour.

4. Repeat the same procedure for the white chocolate and the milk chocolate but after the milk chocolate has smoothened and flattened, fold the flaps of sulfuric paper in to cover the mousse then freeze the whole thing overnight.

5. To make the mint custard cream, pour the milk in the cooking pan. Split the vanilla pod in half then add in. Boil. Infuse with the mint for about 2 hours. Beat 8 egg yolks together with sugar for about 2 minutes. Let the boiled milk cool, sieve then boil again. Add some into the beaten egg yolks then mix well. Pour it back into the milk. Finally, poach it then let it cool.

6. Take the mousse, remove it from the mold by dipping the bottom and sides in warm water, uncover then turn it upside down. Remove the paper then turn to make the top the bottom part. Pour then spread a little custard cream on a serving plate. Cut a slice of the mousse then set it flat on the plate. Garnish with mint leaves. Serve cold.

Ice Cream Filled Sable

Pâte sablée is the richest of all French short pastry crusts and translates to “rich sugar pastry crust” in English. It is commonly used to make tarts and flans and traditionally made with butter, eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, and powdered almonds. In this gourmet recipe by Chef Georges Wenger, pate sablee is flavored with grated lemon peel for a zesty flavor. The very delicate and nicely crumbly pastry is served with an array of exotic fruits including bananas, coconut flakes, dried banana, coconut meringue, passion fruit, and preserved kumquat. Cardamom ice cream and vanilla cream complete this tantalizing dessert dish. This makes a very colorful and festive dessert for special occasions. It has a tropical flavor and vibe that is ideal for summer dinner parties. Pair this with a bottle of Côtes du Jura Vin de Paille 1996 for a gloriously unforgettable night.

You need to prepare the dough ahead of time since you will need to chill it in the refrigerator of a couple of hours. You can even make the dough as much as four days ahead if you wish. To get very smooth and fine dough, use an electric mixer. The sugar and the butter should be creamed to get a light and fluffy consistency before the other ingredients are added. Use a low speed for mixing the ingredients slowly but evenly. Once the ingredients are well incorporated but not overly mixed, you can form it into a dough, shape it into a ball, and flatten it into a disc. Wrap the disc in a thin plastic film and chill in the refrigerator.

The coconut meringue also takes some time to make and can be prepared in advance. It is simple to do but takes some care and a light hand. You need to whisk the eggs and add castor sugar and whip until the mixture is glossy and fluffy, spread into the shape of disks and bake in a 284 degrees F oven until golden and crisp.

Ingredients

For the pate sablee (cookie dough):
7 tablespoons flour
7 tablespoons butter
3 ½ tablespoons powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 grated lemon peel
1 salt grain

For vanilla cream:
1/2 cup cream
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla pod

For cardamom ice cream:
See Damassine ice-cream
Replace the alcohol with 4 green cardamom grains
crushed and soaked for 10 minutes in milk

For garnishing:
4 round coconut meringue discs
12 round, dried banana slices, fresh coconut flakes
12 preserved kumkats
4 passion fruits (emptied)
1 banana

For the topping:
¼ cup water
11 lbs. sugar
pulp from 1/2 an orange
juice from 1 orange
juice from 1 lemon
1 mature banana

To make the pate sablee, mix the butter and sugar in bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and beat with a whisk. Stir in flour and lemon peel and mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated and a smooth dough is formed. Shape dough into a ball, flatten into a disc and wrap in plastic film. Chill in the fridge for four hours.

1. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/10 inch and cut 4 circles of about 3 ½ inches in diameter. Cook in a buttered plate in a 350 degree F. oven. Store.

2. To make the vanilla cream, whisk the egg yolk with sugar over a bain-marie. Pour over the warm, vanilla-flavored milk. Warm and bind until it’s 187 degrees F. Strain and store cold.

3. To make the topping, heat water with sugar. Add orange peel, orange juice, and lemon juice. Add the banana and cook it again. Stir.

4. To serve, place some vanilla cream on the pate sablee and make a decorative flower with the banana pieces. Place on a serving dish and cover with some sauce. Place a scoop of cardamom ice cream next to it, garnished with coconut flakes, dried banana, and coconut meringue. Sprinkle some preserved kumquat and passion fruit around the dish.