Nov 24, 2007

The nameless dessert

Oh my God, OMG, oh my gosh, however you like to write it... but the point is: OMG, I can't find a name for this dessert that I've made! Very frustrating indeed! And now that I've mentionned it, this dessert is the result of frustration- winter frustration! I just wish it could be summer all year long!!! I can't stand having cold hands and feet all the time, driving to work early in the morning when it's dark...and coming back home from work...and it still being dark! So to cheer me up, fortunately there's the wonderful therapeutic effects of cooking! I am SO convinced more then ever that the best medecine in the world happens to exist in our very own kitchens.


One way that drifts me to a summery place is daydreaming of flavours and colours to use in a future recipe. I start imagining a certain palette of colours, textures and tastes...then count down the days until I finally have the time to make it all become real. For this go, I must had been thinking of many pinks and whites, because the result turned out to be:

I am still not so good with "verrine" type desserts, but hopefully I will improve. These cups contain a base of biscuits roses de Reims followed by a raspberry coulis, a layer of litchis in a rose petal confit, coconut ice cream and loukoum for decoration. All these ingredients taste wonderfully good together... but I still haven't come up with a name for this dessert!


Litchis & Biscuits Roses de Reims


After having made this, I certainly do admire those people who manage to make picture-perfect verrines! I always end up with a mess of layers...which nonetheless tastes good once eaten. If only photographs could allow viewers to see...and taste!

But what counts the most, is that for those minutes of eating the "nameless dessert", my mind and thoughts were no longer in cold Paris...but away on an island, with the sun shining all day over sandy golden beaches and deep turquoise waters... if only...

Recipe for the nameless dessert:

Ingredients:


  • Biscuits Roses de Reims

  • Raspberry coulis

  • Litchis

  • Rose petal confit

  • Coconut icecream

  • Loukoums

  • Shredded coconut

Method (pretty straight forward, as you will see!):



  1. Dice peeled litchis, and mix them with rose petal confit. Set aside.

  2. Take out the glass containers, cups, verrines..whatever it is you will use.

  3. Place a layer of biscuits roses de Reims. I like a lot of crunch, so my layer is thick.

  4. Follow by raspberry coulis

  5. Then, add a layer of the rose petal litchis.

  6. Soften up coconut icecream, and spread a thick layer of that. You can also just place a scoop of ice cream if you want to go quicker...

  7. Decorate with shredded coconut and small pieces of loukoums.

  8. Place in freezer for about 10-15 minutes, just so that the softened ice cream becomes icecream once again. Don't keep in freezer for too long though, because then the litchis will become icecubes!

Enjoy!


P.S: my favourite part is the magical element the loukoum adds to all the other textures! You'll understand why if you make this!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Le voyage en un dessert!

Marianna said...

C'est exactement ca! Merci pour le commentaire :-)

santos. said...

so beautiful!

Anonymous said...

so interesting. Its a different take on Isphahan? May I ask what are biscuits roses de Rein ? are they quite easily available in France? Miki

Anonymous said...

so interesting. Its a different take on Isphahan? May I ask what are biscuits roses de Rein ? are they quite easily available in France? Miki

Marianna said...

Hi camomile- biscuits roses de Reims are typical French biscuits (from Reims) composed mainly of eggs and sugar, and they are baked twice which gives it it's special texture. The tradition goes that they are best when dipped in champagne! You can find them easily in France- usually they are near the biscuits boudoirs (used for charlottes). Hope this helps!

Laura said...

How about "summer drift" as a name? You said it yourself in the post it helps you drift away to summer...rather than get stuck in a snow drift..lol.
Love your blog!