Gimme Some Heat and Sweetness! Serrano Honey Blueberry Tartlets with Lemon Custard Are Your Tastebud’s New Favorite Dessert.
Misc. / January 26, 2022Tart blueberries find an extra snap in your mouth with Olive This! brand specialty vinegar. Nestled inside the light and pleasing crunch of puff pastry, I added the cool taste of lemon custard to bring your mouth full circle in taste and celebration.
If there’s anything to be said for a dessert, it is the canvas for creativity. For too long we have enforced the rule that adding anything but sugar to a dessert will take away from its sacredness. Let’s smash that rule (One of my favorite pastimes!) and learn why.
I must tell you that around the world, desserts are imagined differently than what we see through our Betty Crocker American cultural lens. Sorry Betty. In India for example a popular dessert is called a Kulfi which includes saffron and turmeric in the ingredient list. Melomakarona cookies from Cyprus feature olive oil and cognac. Tavuk göğsü is a Turkish chicken pudding. They basically pound the chicken breast and mince them as fine as possible before combining rice flour, milk and sugar altogether. The end result resembles milk pudding and it is usually topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon powder.
As I’ve mentioned before, acids like vinegar and honey (yes, honey is an acid) have a place on your dish no matter the course. And they bring out the flavor of foods in a beautiful way. Our mouths don’t have on/off buttons for flavors. EVERYTHING you put in your mouth will be read by the receptors as salty, sweet, bitter, or sour. And a combination of these. In fact, the tip of the tongue is for BOTH sweet and sour. That anatomy tells us we were clearly designed to enjoy these sensations together!
One of my favorite ways to incorporate all these acidic flavors is with fruit. By simmering blueberries with Olive This! Serrano Honey Specialty Vinegar and ladling it into the light, crispy vessel of a puff pastry cup we have elegance instantly. And to offset the sweetness I combined it with a cool and creamy lemon custard.
I believe when it comes to desserts, you should give your mouth something to look forward to, something to celebrate, and something which keeps it interesting. Try this today!