|
| HOW
TO CREATE A FRUIT ESSENCE |
RECIPE
BY TALLYRAND |
 |
Fruitiness
at its best . . . . .
This
week I am answering a question poised by Hub-UK! How
many times have you seen a recipe that calls for a fruit
essence that you just cannot find in your local supermarket
or deli? Or how many times have you wanted / needed
something to give a dessert a terrific boost in flavour?
Well
this week's recipe is really more of a basic technique
that will solve these problems. It removes the very
essence of the fruits to leave a strong flavoured liquor
and may be used for many recipes and dishes, as it produces
a wonderful fruit syrup essence that might be used for
making:
It
may also be used to flavour endless amounts of other
desserts or used as a concentrated sauce to drizzle
over other desserts or ice creams. The amount of sugar
to be used will vary depending on the tartness of the
fruit you are using and just how sweet or tart you want
the finished product to be, so a little experimentation
may be required. I prefer to be minimilistic with the
sugar and add a little clear honey to the final syrup
essence if required, which it rarely ever is as we have
to remember two important points:
- Fruits
are often naturally tart and it gives that freshness
in flavour to a dish
- Often
the syrup essence will be used in a dish where we
will be using sugar anyway and if the syrup essence
is sweet, the final dish will end up being overly
sweet
If
using berries leave them whole (cut large strawberries
in half) and if using fruits like peaches, plums, etc
cut them into segments
With
this technique you will find the fruits (especially
strawberries) will lose most of their colour and will
be left sitting in a well flavoured and coloured natural
essence / syrup. While I normally discard the fruit
afterwards, some of them may still be used to add bulk
to an ice cream, etc but will be there for effect only
as all of their flavour will now be in the syrup essence.
MAKING
FRUIT ESSENCE
Ingredients
| fruit
of choice |
2
|
cups |
| sugar
- castor |
1/3
|
cup |
Method
- Place
the fruit in a heat proof bowl
- Sprinkle
in the sugar and gently mix in
- Seal
the bowl well with cling film
- Place
the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water for
approximately 8 minutes
- Remove
from the heat and allow the bowl to sit over the 'bain
marie' until the water has cooled
- Remove
from the bowl and the cling film from it
- Carefully
drain the syrup away
- Chill
until required
Chef's
Tip:
The
syrup essence will keep in the fridge for up to a
week
The
flavour may be further strengthened and thickened
by placing it on a gentle heat and simmering it to
allow it to reduce and strengthen.
Enjoy
and bon appetit . . . . .
|
Chef's
terminology:
|
| |
lt |
=
|
litres |
|
tsp |
= |
teaspoon |
| |
ml |
=
|
millelitres |
|
tbs |
= |
tablespoon |
| |
kg |
=
|
kilograms |
|
sq |
= |
sufficient
quantity (add to taste) |
| |
gm |
=
|
grams |
|
pc |
= |
piece,
meaning a whole one of |
|
Recipe
from professional
Chef Tallyrand
Email
Hub-UK : info@hub-uk.com
|
