Recipes: Cool Desserts with Basil

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Recipes: Cool Desserts

Simple ingredients, fresh fruit yield a refreshing finale

 

 

 

By Kathie Smith

BLADE FOOD EDITOR

 

Cool down with a refreshing dessert or intermezzo. Make your own frosty

creation with simple ingredients. Grill fruit with a sauce or pair it with a

flavored cream. Simplest of all is make your own ice cream sandwiches with

store-bought ingredients.

Last summer, my electric ice cream maker supplied our family with cool summer

desserts. This year, Iíve discovered fresh fruit and herb ices that don't

require special equipment or hard-to-find ingredients. Not only can you make

desserts, you can also make an ice called an intermezzo to serve between

courses.

 

What got me started was a little fresh basil plant sitting on my kitchen

counter. In another cupboard was a bottle of dry vermouth.

 

The result:

Basil-Vermouth Ice, an herbal, peppery, slightly sweet ice served to cool down

or between courses of a meal, a recipe from Martini & Rossi. I used four sprigs

from my fresh basil plant, water, sugar, dry vermouth, the juice of one lemon,

and a few peppercorns (to taste).

 

Most of the basil is torn into pieces and cooked with the other ingredients

until slowly brought to a boil. Next, the mixture stands covered one hour off

the heat, and then it is strained. Adding bright green color, the leaves from a

reserved basil sprig are cut into thin strips (chiffonade) and added to the

cooled mix. I placed the mixture in an 8-inch square glass baking dish, covered

it with plastic wrap, and placed it in the freezer until half-frozen. Then I

whisked the ice crystals and returned the dish to the freezer. The resulting

ice can be dished up with an ice cream scoop, but I cut mine into squares,

transferring them to a freezer box with a lid.

The combination produces an amazing flavor.

 

If you have mint growing in your backyard, make Mint-Infused Citrus Ice for

dessert served with fresh strawberries and lemon cookies. Or as a starter to

the meal, top melon slices with two or three tiny scoops of the ice. The

ingredients are basic: one lemon, lime, and orange, water, sugar, fresh mint,

and orange juice.

 

For an adult dessert after a steak dinner, serve homemade Red Plum Ice. Fresh

plums, lemon peel, water, sugar and sweet vermouth make this colorful ice.

 

Note that ices arenít meant to be perfectly smooth. They have a granular, snowy

texture. Ices can be served within a few hours of being made or they will

solidify as my Basil-Vermouth Ice did. My solution was to cut the ice in

squares, but you can also break the mixture into chunks and process in a food

processor to keep it slushy.

 

Fruit creations

 

The flavor of grilled fruit with sugar-based sauce is almost like having flambe

desserts. You can make Bananas Foster or Grilled Peaches and Double Cream. The

key to grilling fruit is to use nonstick foil or the basting sauce will drip on

your grill, requiring unnecessary cleanup. If you donít have nonstick foil, use

regular aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil if you think

you need to.

 

The glaze for this recipe uses butter, Moscato (a sweet wine), brown sugar, and

cinnamon. While grilling the fresh peaches, baste the peaches with the glaze.

When making the glaze, do not turn the heat up too high or cook it too long.

 

Serve the glazed fruit on ice cream or on shortcake or pound cake. Top with

Double Cream made with sugar, creme fraiche, and heavy whipped cream. Creme

fraiche is sold at stores such as Walt Churchillís Briarfield and Sofoís.

 

Pairing fresh strawberries with ricotta cream is a refreshing, great

dessert. " The flavor and texture is similar to a cannoli filling, " says Kay

Lynne Schaller, who tested Strawberries with Anise-Ricotta Cream for The Blade.

(Traditional cannoli filling has ricotta cheese, citron, sugar, and

flavorings.)

 

Made with whole milk ricotta cheese, whipping cream, sugar, lemon, and anise

seed, the cream has a mild anise flavor. " The kids even liked it, " she says of

the Anise-Ricotta Cream layered with strawberries. It is not as sweet as an ice

cream.

 

If you like, fill store-bought cannoli shells with the filling.

 

Super simple

 

One classic summer ice cream dessert that is being adapted at tony

restaurants is the ice cream sandwich. Pastry chefs are making their own

cookies and pairing them with unusual ice cream flavors (made at the

restaurant) to create sophisticated ice cream sandwiches.

 

Ginger Ice Cream Sandwiches are a grown-up version of the classic chocolate and

vanilla ice cream sandwich. Store-bought mini ginger cookies cut preparation

time.

 

Of course, you can always make a tasting plate by varying the ice cream and

cookie flavors. Try butter pecan between two sugar cookies or mint chocolate

chip between chocolate cookies.

 

Summer begs for cool desserts and foods and the best part is they are easy to

make. Enjoy!