High Friday # 15: Lime Mint Flan and Lemon Flan and its Marinated Strawberries — Léger de citron vert à la menthe et léger de citron aux fraises marinées

Today is Jan 26 but pretend it is already Jan 27 2006, le 27 janvier 2006! And see why…

High Friday # 15

Léger de citron vert à la menthe et léger de citron aux fraises marinées – Lime Mint Flan and Lemon Flan and its Marinated Strawberries

Only one week away from our trip to New Zealand (I cannot hide the happiness at the thought of summer and beautiful New Zealand simply waiting for us). Although not directly linked to my current food talk, this coming travel event is great food dessert inspiration. S.U.M.M.E.R! For Friday Jan 27, I am happy to present my dessert to participate in the Low is the New High event organized by Sam from Becks & Posh.

My main problem for the conception of such dessert- low in sugar and fat- was that I could not settle with only one dessert idea. I know, I know, this is the whole point of the exercice. After all, you cannot present a dessert cookbook but still. There were simply too many options open and I confess that I can be the queen of undecisiveness at times. So what about a compromise? Pick one flavour I love in all kinds of food, sweet or savoury (I admit that I can eat lemons raw) and present two desserts. The first one would be simple, the second one more complex. Et le tour est joué! I set my mind on citruses. Maybe because I played with too many citruses and oranges for the Foodography event.

I have to acknowledge that Mother Nature has been good to me. I am a pretty good eater (with all of the cooking going on, I would be nuts not to), and do not use light products. That is, I do not put weight on easily. To me, sugar is sugar, fat stays fat and I use them the way they are. The key is in the balance. And coming from where I come from (with a mum that has a vegetable garden and grand-parents that owned a farm), I always ate organic foods and learned quickly to gain this balanced diet. Therefore, this event challenged me a bit as my taste developed around full-bodied products (which in Béa’s language means with fat and with real sugar).

A promise for summer simplicity

Léger de citron vert à la menthe (Lime Flan with Mint)

You need: (for 4 people)

  • 350 g plain yogurt (Greek style, 2% or 0%, or full fat)
  • 3 limes and the zest of 2
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup or evaporated cane sugar
  • 10 cl water
  • 10 g gelatin powder
  • a large bunch of mint
  • Fresh mangoes

Steps

  • Place 4 small ramekins in the fridge.
  • Start by washing the limes and take the zest of two (very thin).
  • Squeeze the juice of the 3 limes and set aside.
  • Wash the mint and place in a pot with 10 cl water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to let infuse for 15 mns. Strain and let cool down.
  • Add the lime juice and the zest finely grated of 2 limes to the flavoured water, and sprinkle the gelatin powder on top. Mix well.
  • Mix together the yogurt with the sugar or light maple syrup.
  • Add the lime juice preparation to the yogurt and mix well.
  • Take the 4 ramekins out of the fridge and rinse them without drying them. Fill with the yogurt preparation and place in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours, until the lime flan is settled. Check regularly.
  • To unmould the flans, run a thin, sharp knife around the edges of each ramekin. Boil water (1 inch deep) in a pot and place the ramekins inside for 1 mn, to be able to unmould more easily.
  • Take 4 plates to serve the flans on top. Decorate with lime peels and fresh mint. Serve with fresh ripe mangoes.

Léger de citron aux fraises marinées (Lemon Flan and Strawberries)

You need:
(For 4 people)

For the orange layer

  • 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 12 g gelatin powder
  • 1 tbsp evaporated cane sugar (optional)

For the strawberries

  • 400 g fresh strawberries
  • 80 g evaporated cane sugar
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

For the lemon cream

  • 200ml cold light liquid cream (crème liquide, heavy cream, light for this dessert, but full after the event, ah!)
  • 2 lemons
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 80 g evaporated cane sugar
  • 2 white eggs
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 10 g gelatin powder


To decorate

  • Fresh strawberries
  • Mint
  • 1 tsp Matcha tea

Steps:

To prepare the orange layer

  • Dissolve the gelatin with 1/4 cup of cold orange juice.
  • Heat the remaining orange juice and add to the cold preparation. Stir well and pour in 4 ramekins.
  • Let cool down and place in the fridge for a minimum of an hour, until it is firm.

To prepare the strawberries

  • Wash the strawberries and cut them in slices.
  • Chop the mint thinly
  • Add 80 g of sugar.
  • Mix well and place in the fridge for about a min of an hour.

To prepare the lemon cream

  • Take the zest of the lemons.
  • Squeeze the juice of the lemons.
  • Mix the gelatin with part of the cold lemon juice.
  • Heat the remaining juice and when hot, add to the cold preparation. Mix well and let cool down.
  • Take the cold light cream and using your food processor or blender, mix it on high speed to make chantilly
  • Add the sugar and lemon juice and zest to the chantilly.
  • Beat the white eggs with the pinch of salt until you get a stiff preparation, then add them delicately to the chantilly. (French for whipped cream).

To finish the preparation of the dessert

  • Take the ramekins out of the fridge.
  • On top of the orange gelatin layer, place slices of strawberries.
  • Then place uniformily a layer of lemon cream (use a knife to make a regular surface)
  • Place in the fridge again for about 1 hour.
  • After this time, take small plates and sprinkle over the matcha tea.
  • To unmould the flans, run a thin, sharp knife around the edges of each ramekin. Boil water (1 inch deep) in a pot and place the ramekins inside for 1 mn, to be able to unmould more easily.
  • Gently flip the creams on the plate. Decorate with more strawberry slices and coulis around.
  • Place the dessert in the fridge again until ready to serve

And then, what do you do next? Eat!

As to the flavours, my favorites were the lime in the first one and the lemon cream with strawberries in the second. As to the jelly, I was not born British or Irish, so I am still getting used to the idea! Unlike my hubbie! 🙂 Which reminds me, ahahah, I am a big fan of LemonJelly, the band! It had to be!

This was great dessert inspiration. I have a list of at least 5 20 waiting to be tested. Come back then!

Tagged with: +

Posted in Dessert, Fruit, Gluten Free

26 comments

  1. Bonjour Béa,
    Moi je reste encore à decouvrir la cuisine française tradionnelle. A partir de cette technique je voudrais utilisée les produit qu’on trouve à mon payée. Désolé pour mon français, je suis nulle dans toutes la langue. Française est une belle langue. J’espere de le perfectionner avant la retraite, he he! Il faut voir le film “Je vous trouve très beau”!
    Votre cuisines sont merveilleuse. Qui sont votre cobaille pour cette créations.
    Depuis j’ai commencée le blog j’ai gagnée quelque poid.

  2. I love your philosophy towards food! The desserts made me drool, especially the lime and mint flan, as that is a combination I adore. Your photos are gorgeous, as always.

  3. C’est tres beau, Bea!

    I’m excited for you to take your trip to New Zealand as well! Will you be blogging while you’re there?

    As for the dessert, they are tremendous. I love flan and I also love anything citrus-flavoured. Not only does this meet the requirements of “Low is the New High”, but it looks incredibly refreshing.

    The best of dessert: completely delicious and it won’t add 5 pounds to your hips!

    Ciao!

  4. Hi Bea
    I am so jealous of your trip to New Zealand. I used to live in Australia, and went to NZ a couple of times. It is truly one of the worlds most beautiful countries. My father was born and raised there.
    Will you still be able to blog whilst you are there?

  5. Hi Relly,

    Merci de votre message. Mon cobaye, c’est mon petit mari et moi! 😉

    Hi Tania and Fiordizucca ,

    Thank you! Yes lime and mint are a great combination, aren’t they?

    Hi Ivonne,

    Merci! You are right, this is a very light dessert, you can have as much as you want! 😉 Might blog, not sure if I will be able to!

    Hi Gastrochick,

    Yes I am so happy to go to NZ. I used to live there (for 2 years) and I fell in love with the country and its people! Pure beauty. I don;t think I will be blogging because I might be on a beach somewhere, or on a hike, but I will try when I can! 😉 So your dad is a kiwi?? 😉

    Hi Kat,

    Yes the right word, refreshing!!

  6. Oh this is so lovely!! The photo and colors just G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!!! I can taste the citrusy flavors in mouth just looking at the pics above. Brava Bea!

    I agree, butter is butter and fat is fat, there is no way around it. Not that I would ever try to substitute, but my husband would have a fit if I ever brought margarine into this house!

  7. Lime and Mint= Mojitos! 😉 You know me!
    Pretty pics. Lovely as always.
    So Bea- do you mean gelatin or agar agar when you write jello powder? Also with liquid cream-
    1/2 an d1/2, light, heavy, whipped? Does it matter?
    Thanks-

  8. Hi Kim,

    Ah yes, merci! I guess I thought I could not use the word gelatin in English. I mean gelatin. As for the cream, the ever long problem, it is the cream you would use to make whippped cream. What I meant is that it is liquid, not creme fraiche. So heavy cream is fine. yes I know lime and mint are your favorites too! 😉
    I will edit the post with the gelatin info.

  9. Entre “cobaille”=cobaye et mon “payée”= pays, dûr dûr le français.. merci d’avoir corrigé. A+

  10. Bea,

    I had to come back and look one more time … !

    Just as beautiful as I remembered from this morning.

    Bonne nuit!

  11. hi bea, what a beautiful and original creation; your pictures are gorgeous – i feel so hungry for a taste just staring at them!

  12. wow! Bea – you have done an AMAZING job – I am absolutely speechless. And your photos – wow, all that ‘Oranges’ practice has really paid off, n’est ce pas? Thank you for sharing your beauty with us all.

  13. Oh la la la la la la! Je ne peux pas attendre d’essayer ces recettes. Ils paraissent beaux ! Vous êtes si créatif!!!
    Bisous,
    Amy (Ms. Glaze)

  14. Hi Ivonne,

    You are too funny! 😉 your note made me really smil!

    Hi J,
    Thanks for your nice note. Hope you enjoy it if you make it.

    Hi Sam,

    Merci de ton gentil mot! I guess yes, too many citruses around in the house did this to me 😉 Thanks for organizing this fun event. I loved playing with it. Wanted to present more but I had to stop myself! P. and I were happy eating though.

    Hi Sophie,

    Yes, light is just not the same, is it? Du bon beurre et du bon sucre, the best!

    Hi Ms Glaze,

    Merci de ton mot tout mignon. J’ai vu ton homard, quel travail! Chapeau!

    A bientot!

    Bea

  15. Lime flan with mint? Eeaaah, that sounds amazing! (Beautiful photos too!) I almost wan t to make it myself, except that would require buying…a bunch of ingredients, along with ramekins. And a zester. And pretty plates to serve everything on. Someday, perhaps. 🙂

  16. finally found time to comment…
    i love lime i love mint
    this looks so challenging to me
    knowing me i would try try fail get up and try again so there I might try this.

    your adventurous blood shows the fun on this dessert!

  17. Hi there – I found your site through this recipe and now i think i am in love! So i tried out this recipe for some of my friends who came to our house for a dinner party. I didn’t un-mould them though and just served them in pretty little glasses from the 1970’s i found at a market stall. I also added some lemon verbena leaves with the mint which i had growing in my garden. Then i cut up some strawberries and mixed them with a little brown sugar and put spoonfulls at the top of the glass. They were a huge success and so very easy… i think a lot of my dinners and desserts are going to be coming from your gorgeous site!