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:
SHF # 15 +
Low Sugar
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