Sep 21, 2008

ROSE & ANIS SEED COMBINATIONS...

A while back I had tried these truly wonderful rose- anis macarons at Ladurée. I was pleasantly surprised with the combination of the two flavours. The refreshing edge of the anis overlaps very nicely with the sweet smoothness of rose. So, the other day when I was going through the kitchen closets, I spotted a bottle of concentrated rose syrup which we received from Syria. Then in another closet, a jar of anis seeds was staring right back at me. At that moment my mind went back in time recalling the heavenly Ladurée rose-anis macaron- and that is basically how I came up with this dessert… which is something like a panna cotta, but not quite…
Of course, as you can see from the photos, there is more then just anis and rose here. The base is a fuschia pink fig & rose, whereas the top layer is anis seed infused in a mixture of cream & milk (panna cotta like-ish). Views on this dessert were mixed because it all depends what side you come from. There are those people I know who are real traditionalists, who only love vanilla, chocolate, strawberry & co type classics. Then there are the “others” who like to experiment around and who generally preferred my dessert this time. And then there were just a few traditionalists that went over to the other side and enjoyed the flavour combination too. As for me? Well, I loved it. And no, I don’t love every single dessert I make- there are some that turn out to be disastrous and that see the light of day only once in their life, while there are other real keepers that I enjoy making over and over again. This was my first time preparing this specific dessert, but I know for sure I will be back at it again!

Above: concentrated rose syrup vs rose water.
The one I used this time was the concentrated rose syrup.
P.S: No recipe this time as everything was quite spontaneous. For the bottom part, I started with a layer of fresh figs followed with the rose syrup mixed with water and gelatine which was left to set in the fridge. After that, for the upper part, follow a panna-cotta type recipe and add on top of the bottom layer- only after it has set!

5 comments:

Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul said...

Your flavour combinations are getting more and more exotic Marianna...stunning!

Nina Timm said...

I have to agree with Peter.....all the desserts on this site are just amazing!

Patricia Scarpin said...

I love the flavors you put together here, darling! And the colors are wonderful, too.

Leonor de Sousa Bastos said...

Your spontaneity creates marvelous things...

There's nothing like being creative but for the next time write down the recipe se we can also try it!
:)

Marvelous!
:)

My Sweet & Saucy said...

What a great presentation! Almost looks too good to eat!