Have a Sweet Adventure
By Susan Belsinger
I have been gardening and cooking my way through a life filled with herbs for about 30 years now. Essential to my kitchen, they sweeten each day with their fragrance and flavor. I use herbs in all parts of a meal — from soups and savories to salads and baked goods — not just desserts. Using herbs to flavor any food, whether sweet or savory, will elevate it to another level. Herbs can complement, accentuate or intensify a dish. Bold or subtle, herbs can make a ho-hum recipe outstanding.
The sweet herbal recipes herein are simple, homey desserts. Some are traditional recipes, variations on a theme, or an old family favorite; others are new and innovative, or perhaps to some, downright peculiar. All of them are made delicious by the addition of herbs.
Herbs add another dimension to our lives, especially in the kitchen. Hopefully these sweet herbal recipes will inspire you to experiment with and add more herbs to your cooking. Think of this as one big, sweet, herbal adventure.
Buttermilk Chocolate Cake with Peppermint & Minted Chocolate Buttercream
Serves 10 to 12
This layer cake is fudgey and moist with a nice hint of peppermint. The buttercream is a light chocolate with refreshing mint flavor. I like peppermint here because it is stronger in flavor, but spearmint also can be used. My family likes this cake on the day after it has been made, when the mint has permeated the entire cake. I usually refrigerate it and take it out of the refrigerator 15 to 20 minutes before serving so that it is at cool room temperature. It can be garnished with a circle of fresh or candied mint leaves arranged on the top.
1 cup milk scalded with 1 cup packed peppermint leaves
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooked
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/2 cup fresh chopped peppermint leaves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch layer cake pans, line the bottoms with a circle of wax paper, and dust lightly with flour. Scald milk and mint, then set aside to cool.
In a bowl, sift flour with cocoa, baking soda, baking powder; salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, whip butter with an electric mixer for a minute or so. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and chocolate and blend well, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Remove mint from scalded and cooled milk and add 1/2 cup milk to the buttermilk, reserving the other 1/2 cup for the buttercream. Alternately add flour mixture in three parts with milk mixture in two parts to chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add chopped mint and blend well.
Divide batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes until a tester comes out clean and cake starts to pull away slightly from sides of the pan. Cool pans on a baking rack for 5 to 10 minutes, remove cakes from pans and remove wax paper. Turn cakes right-side-up to cool.
Herbs can complement, accentuate or intensify a dish. Bold or subtle, herbs can make a ho-hum recipe outstanding.
Chocolate Mint Buttercream
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1-pound box confectioners’ sugar
Reserved 1/2 cup mint-flavored milk
In a large bowl, whip butter with an electric mixer for a minute or so. Add chocolate and blend well. Add confectioners’ sugar, about a cup at a time, and alternate with milk, about 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time. Blend well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally so buttercream will mix evenly. You probably will need about 4 to 6 tablespoons of the milk — you will not use all of it. The buttercream should be a nice spreading consistency.
Assemble the cake with the buttercream spread between each layer, and over the sides and top of the cake.
Pears Poached with Rosemary & Chestnut Whipped Cream
Serves 6 to 8
My friend Carolyn Dille and I developed this elegant dessert when we owned and operated a catering business. It is one of my favorites and is definitely a grown-up dessert.
6 to 8 firm, ripe pears (Bosc or D’anjou are good varieties)
About 3/4 to 1 bottle full-bodied red wine
1 cup port wine
2 to 3 pieces lemon peel
Two 3-inch sprigs fresh rosemary
1⁄3 cup sugar
Peel pears, leaving the stems on. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a stainless or enamel pan large enough to hold pears comfortably. The pan should be deep enough so that the wine covers at least two-thirds of the pears when they are standing.
Bring the wine — no pears — to a boil and reduce to simmer. Add pears and poach for about 25 minutes, turning occasionally so they color evenly, until they are tender but firm. Remove from liquid and cool on a platter. Remove rosemary sprigs, reduce poaching liquid by half and cool to room temperature. Serve pears with the liquid and garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs, if desired.
Drop Scones with Rose Petals & Pistachios
Makes about 2 dozen scones
These scones are a bit more exotic than your everyday scone and they are drizzled with a rose icing. If you prefer to serve them in a more traditional manner, pass a very lightly whipped cream and rose petal jelly as accompaniments.
2 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 to 3 pinches cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1⁄3 cup shelled pistachios, lightly toasted and coarsely ground
1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
1 teaspoon rose water
A good handful of rose petals
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon rose jelly or 1 tablespoon red currant jelly mixed with about √ teaspoon rose water
2 to 3 teaspoons water
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and blend thoroughly. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in pistachios.
Stir cream together with rose water. Rinse rose petals and pat dry. Cut into a chiffonade (thin ribbon-like shreds); there should be about 2 tablespoons. Stir cut rose petals into cream and add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Stir to form a soft dough.
Drop the dough by the heaping tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake scones for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Prepare the icing while the scones are baking. Combine confectioner’s sugar, jelly and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Add another teaspoon water if icing seems too thick — it will melt a little if the scones are warm.
Remove scones to a baking rack to cool slightly before drizzling with icing. They are best served warm, right after baking.
If you want to prepare them in advance, cool them completely without icing and store them in an airtight container. Wrap them in foil and gently reheat in a 325-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Drizzle the icing over them while they are warm.
Chocolate Ice Cream with Anise-flavored Herbs
Makes about 1 1/2 quarts
This creamy chocolate ice cream becomes nearly exotic when flavored with a hint of anise or licorice. Anise or Thai basil are delicious in this recipe, or it can be prepared with other licorice-flavored herbs like tarragon or anise hyssop. If you don’t prefer an anise flavor, then try mint or cinnamon basil, which are always a good choice with chocolate
2 cups milk
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed whole anise or Thai basil leaves
6 extra-large egg yolks
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces
6 ounces good-quality, semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
Combine milk with 1 cup of whipping cream, sugar and anise or basil in a 2-quart, heavy-bottom nonreactive saucepan. Bruise the leaves against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring contents of pan to a simmer and remove from heat. Cover, and let herbs steep in the liquid for 30 minutes.
Strain infused cream through a large sieve, pressing on herb leaves to extract their essence. Return warm infused cream to the pan, reserving about 1 cup. Lightly whisk eggs in a small bowl and add about half of the reserved cup of the warm cream to eggs and whisk; add remaining cream and whisk again.
Whisk egg and cream mixture into the saucepan and gently reheat the infused cream over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until custard lightly coats a metal spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Melt the chocolate. Whisk in about half of the melted chocolate into the custard. Add the rest of the chocolate to the custard in 3 parts. Adding the chocolate to the custard gradually will keep it from getting grainy.
Strain the cream mixture into a bowl, cool to room temperature, and chill (an ice bath will speed this step). Stir in the remaining 1 cup whipping cream. Freeze according to ice-cream maker instructions.
Of course, the ice cream is best served the day it is made; however it keeps well in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. For best flavor, do not serve the ice cream rock-hard; allow it to stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes so it softens slightly.
Blondies with Monarda & Apricots (or Bergamot Bars)
9-by-13-inch pan; makes 32 bars
For the best flavor, these bars should be made with butter for a good butterscotch taste. The red-flowered monarda (Monarda didyma), also known as bee balm and bergamot, since the other monardas have an oregano-like flavor and would not be good in dessert. Orange mint can be substituted for the monarda.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
11⁄3 cups packed, light brown sugar
2⁄3 cup granulated sugar
About 1 cup dried apricots
About 1/2 cup monarda leaves, loosely packed
2 1/2 cups bleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-inch pan.
In a heavy-bottom, medium sauce-pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. When melted, add brown sugar and stir. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until brown sugar is thick and syrupy, about 4 minutes. Stir in granulated sugar until it is dissolved and remove pan from heat to cool.
Thinly slice apricots crosswise. Wash, dry and coarsely chop monarda leaves; there should be about 3 tablespoons of chopped herb.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir to blend. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture over apricots and toss to coat lightly.
Beat eggs into warm brown sugar and butter mixture (it should not be hot) to blend thoroughly. Add vanilla and stir well.
Pour liquid ingredients into the flour and stir until just blended. Add apricots and monarda and stir until just mixed in. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes, until the top is a deep golden brown. Allow to cool completely on a baking rack before cutting into bars.
Luscious Lemon Cream
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
This dessert is like a fluffy lemon mousse; however, it is made without gelatin. It is prepared easily by making a lemon curd base, which can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator. To prepare, just fold in the freshly whipped lemon-scented cream. Serve simply in an elegant dessert dish, perhaps garnished with a lemon curl. If you ever have the opportunity to acquire Meyer lemons, this is heavenly when made with their exotic, perfumey flavor. It also would be lovely served with fresh fruit or alongside angel food, genoise or pound cake. Save the leftover curd for tarts, toast, scones or cake filling.
1 cup whipping cream
Handful of lemon verbena or lemon balm leaves
3 medium lemons
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
In a bowl, combine whipping cream with lemon verbena or lemon balm leaves, bruising the leaves against the side of the bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.
Remove zest from the lemons with a fine lemon zester or grater. Halve lemons and squeeze juice from them. Strain to remove the seeds; there should be about 1/2 cup juice.
Put hot water in the bottom of a double boiler. Combine the zest and juice in the top of a double boiler along with the sugar and butter. Place over medium heat and bring the water to a simmer. Stir ingredients occasionally, until dissolved and blended, and hot to the touch.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs well and pour them through a strainer into the top of the double boiler. Stir often while the mixture cooks; it will begin to thicken. It should get nice and thick in about 10 minutes — it should be like a thick white sauce or gravy — and sort of sheet off the spoon. Cook for a few minutes longer after it sheets. (If you want to use a candy thermometer, the temperature should be between 150 and 160 degrees, but this really isn’t necessary).
Remove the top part of the double boiler from the bottom and stir curd occasionally as it cools. Once you can put your hands on the outside of the pan, cover the top of the curd with wax paper and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, refrigerate until ready to use.
When ready to assemble, remove herb leaves from cream, squeezing leaves to remove all of the essence. Using a hand or electric beater, beat whipping cream. When it starts to thicken, add vanilla and blend well. Fold 1 1/2 cups of the curd into whipped cream, and reserve the remaining curd for another use. The lemon cream can be refrigerated until ready to use, or served in individual dishes. If kept refrigerated, you may need to whisk it a bit just before serving.
Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Rosemary, Pine Nuts and Dried Cherries
Makes about 5 dozen 1 1/2-inch cookies
These unusual cookies, rich in chocolate, have resinous overtones of rosemary, echoed by the pine and nutty flavors of pine nuts, and subtly teased by the tart/sour/sweet of the dried cherries. The basic chocolate cookie recipe (without the herbs, nuts and fruits) was inspired by the “911 Chocolate Emergency Cookies” in Diane Mott Davidson’s Dying for Chocolate (Bantam Books, 1992). I especially like this combination for holidays, and they freeze well.
12 ounces semisweet, bittersweet or a combination of good-quality chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2⁄3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 generous tablespoons fresh minced rosemary
3/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter 2 baking sheets
Break the chocolate into pieces. In a double boiler or the microwave, melt the chocolate with 4 tablespoons of butter, stir and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat 8 tablespoons softened butter with brown and white sugars. Continue beating and add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and melted chocolate and mix until combined. Stir in flour mixture, rosemary, pine nuts and dried cherries, and mix until blended.
The dough can be covered and refrigerated at this point for up to a few hours, or the cookies can be baked immediately. Drop the cookies by the heaping teaspoon onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake in a hot oven for about 8 to 10 minutes, changing baking positions halfway through the baking. The cookies should puff a little and flatten. Do not overbake them — they will firm up as they cool. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes and then remove onto racks to cool. Store in airtight containers for a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Three-seed Cookies with Citrus-flavored Herbs
Makes about 7 dozen cookies
I first created this recipe using mint and orange zest. However, it also works really well with lemon balm or lemon verbena and lemon zest. These good-for-you cookies are full of flavor; the recipe can be halved easily. I make a big batch and freeze some to have on hand. My kids refer to these as birdseed cookies.
3 sticks unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups), softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon orange or lemon oil, optional
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange or lemon zest
1/2 cup packed orange mint or lemon balm leaves, or 1⁄3 cup lemon verbena leaves, minced fine
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup white or whole-wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter two baking sheets.
In a large bowl, food processor or mixer, beat butter with white and brown sugars until blended and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add citrus oil, vanilla, zest and herbs and blend well.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, salt, baking soda, oats and seeds. Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet and blend well.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoonsful onto baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown on the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from baking sheets and cool on baking racks. Store in a tightly covered container.
Susan Belsinger is the author of Not Just Desserts: Sweet Herbal Recipes (Paul’s Printing, 2005), available on our Bookshelf.
HERBS THAT PLAY WELL WITH DESSERTS
Angelica. These stems have a slightly woody, bitter, resinous flavor with a hint of fruit, and usually are candied for a garnish to decorate desserts; the aromatic leaves are good chopped for fruit salads, with citrus and rhubarb.
Basil. Lemon and cinnamon basil add a citrus or cinnamon flavor to summer fruit salads, sorbets and pear conserves. Genoa green and spice basil work well with citrus and tomato in preserves.
Bay. A fresh leaf lends citrus and balsam-like flavor with a hint of vanilla and nutmeg to custards, baked fruit and sweet bread dough with dried fruits.
Bergamot. A favorite herb for the stone fruits of summer, like apricots, peaches and plums, as well as apples and berries; this herb has a perfumey, tea-like flavor. Use in fruit salads, in stewed or poached fruit, and in making jellies or preserves. The red flower blossoms are a tasty garnish with the same perfume.
Borage. The delicate star-shaped flowers, with their clean cucumber taste, are used fresh and candied for garnishing desserts, punches and wine.
Chervil. This mild, anise-flavored herb with a hint of citrus is best used fresh with mild-flavored fruits, such as melons, apricots, plums, peaches, papaya, kiwi and fruit salads.
Coriander. The nutty and highly citrus-flavored seed is used in baked goods, with apples, bananas, pears, cherries, apricots and peaches. The cilantro leaf, which has grassy and resinous taste with a hint of citrus, goes best with citrus fruits, and complements coconut and pomegranate.
Fennel. The anise-flavored seed can be baked in fruit desserts made with apples, pears and rhubarb. The sweet, feathery leaves can be used with fresh fruit.
Geraniums. These distinct and unique leaves range in fragrance and flavor from rose and nutmeg to lemon and peppermint. They are used to flavor cakes, tarts and jellies made with apricots, every type of berry, currants and apples, and in citrus sorbets. The leaves and flowers make fragrant garnishes.
Lavender. Use only the blossoms in the kitchen — do not use the foliage of this highly perfumed, flowery herb. It goes well with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants and peaches. Its flavor is more delicate when used with dairy products, such as in cream sauces, custards and ice creams.
Lemon balm and lemon verbena. Both of these highly aromatic, lemon-flavored herbs add sweet and citrus tastes to desserts. Verbena is stronger in citrus oil and therefore has more concentrated flavor than balm, so adjust accordingly in a recipe. Use in custards, pies, cakes and jellies. Chopped fresh, it is good in fruit salads, sorbets and berry fools.
Mint. There are many mints — apple, orange, pineapple, spearmint and peppermint — all culinary favorites. Choose peppermint if you want more menthol, spearmint if you prefer it sweeter, and orange mint if you want that flavor of Earl Grey tea. Mint is good with any fruit, and is a good companion to all of the berries, grapes, melons, peaches and plums. It adds a refreshing tingle to fruit salads, sorbets, pies, fools and jellies. It also works well when baked with apples and pears.
Rose. The unmistakable perfume of roses can lend an exotic quality to desserts, however no two roses taste alike and some are downright bitter or sour, so be sure to taste before using. Rose petals, rosehips and rosewater are used in making candy, cookies, syrups, jellies and frostings; they should be used with mild-flavored or citrus fruits in order to savor their delicate scent.
Rosemary. Since this herb has such a strong resinous and piney flavor, it should not be used with mild-tasting fruits. It is an herb that is great with red wine — use it for poaching or macerating apples, pears, oranges, cranberries and dried fruits. It adds good flavor to mulled wine, tea and cider.
Thyme. This well-rounded herb has a flavor that is sweet and savory and is tasty with apples and pears, or baked, stewed or macerated in compote. It also is tasty in grape and cranberry jelly. Lemon thyme and orange thyme have citrus flavors and are less savory, and can be added to fruit salad; but they tend to lose some of their citrus dimension when cooked.
Sage. Use cold-weather fruits like apples and pears with this earthy, musky, slightly camphorus-tasting herb — stewed, in a sauce or fritters, or baked in bread or cake.
Sweet cicely. The leaves and flowers of this anise-flavored herb are best used fresh in fruit salads, although they are also good stewed with pears or apples.
Sweet woodruff. This traditional herb of spring goes best with seasonal fruits — strawberries and rhubarb. Its delicate scent of hay-and-vanilla goes well with most berries and is delicious used in infusions and macerations with white and sparkling wines. The tiny white blossoms are a lovely garnish on desserts and in the punch bowl.
When experimenting with herbs in a recipe, pause for a minute, think about the aroma and taste of the herb or herbs, and how it will work with the other ingredients in the recipe, then experiment courageously. If you don’t have anise hyssop, for example, use another herb that you might like the flavor of and substitute it. If a recipe calls for lemon balm, you can replace it with a different lemon-flavored herb, such as lemon verbena, lemongrass, lemon thyme or lemon basil. The idea is to be inventive, and to use herbs to give new flavor and fun to your desserts.