Leftovers Turned Into a Sparkling Dessert...
11 December 2007
After baking some Christmas cookies last week I had some leftover ingredients I wanted to use up. Among others I had used grated lemon zest for the cookie dough, so I had a few naked lemons left. As those tend to perish quite quickly I had to use them fast, so I spontaneously processed them to a refreshing dessert. I added a branch of rosemary to the sweetened squeezed lemons, giving them a very special flavour. Even after sweetening it with sugar and honey the juice remained quite sour, but in combination with a scoop of walnut ice cream, slightly dissolved by the bubbles of some sparkling wine, the dessert tasted really nice.
Sparkling Lemon-Rosemary Ice Cup
| serves 4 |
| juice of 2 lemons |
| 5 tablespoons of icing sugar |
| 2 packages of vanilla sugar |
| 2 tablespoons of honey |
| 1 branch of rosemary |
| 200ml sparkling wine |
| 4 tablespoons of crushed pistachios |
| 4 scoops of ice cream (e.g. walnut or vanilla) |
Melt the icing sugar in a small pot at moderate temperature. Meanwhile squeeze the lemons and once the sugar has caramelized add the juice to the pot. The caramel will first get solid when you pour in the cold lemon juice, but it will melt again once the juice heats up. Stir in the vanilla sugar and the honey and season to taste with more honey or sugar if necessary (but keep in mind that the ice cream will also add some more sweetness). Add the whole branch of rosemary to the juice. Cover with a lid and let it simmer lightly for at least 30 minutes so the rosemary can leave its aroma; then let it cool down again.
In the meantime slowly roast the crushed pistachios in a non-stick frying pan without any fat until they are slightly browned.
Before serving remove the branch of rosemary and mix the lemon juice with the sparkling wine. Pour the mixture into glasses, add a scoop of ice cream to each one and sprinkle the crushed pistachios on top.
| Suggestions for Entrées |
|---|
