I don’t want much of a pudding, just something light and gentle with which to end a summer lunch. A spoonful of trembling custard perhaps, with hints of cardamom and caramel, or featherweight wafer biscuits crisp with sugar and sesame and filled with summer berries. You know, nothing much.
I made crème caramels this week, flavouring the little dishes of custard with ground cardamom seeds, adding a sharp purée of apricots to contrast with the butterscotch sauce in which the upturned custards sat. Eaten in the shade of a wide canopied tree it felt like the perfect summer dessert: calming, cooling and from an altogether more peaceful era. There was a fleeting note of spice and a dark and glossy caramel both sweet and bitter, and a pool of apricot sauce to bring a fresh, tart edge to the proceedings.
We are entering the fruit ’n’ cream weeks: the time around midsummer when scarlet fruits and dairy get their own show. This is a memorable year for strawberries. I prefer them not too large, and deeply fragrant. If the leaves are not bright green and fresh, then do not buy. This time, I slid the berries and a little softly whipped cream between a pair of light, crisp wafers whose surface was dappled with sugar and sesame seeds.
Cardamom custard, apricot purée
Chill the custards thoroughly, preferably overnight, before turning out.
Makes 4
milk, full fat 500ml
green cardamom pods 15
apricots 400g
honey 1 tbsp
egg yolks 4
whole eggs 2
caster sugar 75g
vanilla extract a couple of drops
For the caramel
caster sugar 125g
Pour the milk into a saucepan. Break open the cardamom pods and extract the seeds within. Using a pestle and mortar, lightly break the seeds into smaller pieces then drop them into the milk and bring to the boil. Just before the milk starts to rise up the sides of the pan, remove from the heat, cover and set aside to infuse.
Cut the apricots in half, discarding the stones, putting the fruits into a saucepan. Pour in enough water to half-cover the fruit, add the honey then bring to the boil, lower the heat and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes until soft enough to purée.
Make the caramel: put the sugar and just enough water to cover it into a saucepan and boil, over a high heat, until the caramel turns a dark honey colour. If it isn’t dark enough, your puddings will be pale; if too dark, they will be bitter. Pour the caramel into the moulds, ensure they are evenly covered then set aside.
Set the oven at 150C/gas mark 2. Put the caramel-lined moulds into a roasting tin. Lightly beat together the egg yolks, eggs and caster sugar. Place a fine sieve over the eggs and sugar then pour the cardamom-infused milk into it. Discard the cardamom, it has done its work, add the vanilla extract, mix well then ladle or pour into the moulds.
Boil the kettle. Pour the just-boiled water into the roasting tin to come just over halfway up the sides of the moulds. Place the tin in the oven, then leave for 35 minutes until the custards are lightly set. They should quiver when jiggled.
Remove the custards from the water bath and leave to cool. Chill for 4 or 5 hours. Purée the apricots, transfer to a bowl and chill thoroughly. Unmould the custards, letting the caramel flow around them. Spoon the apricot sauce over and serve.
Sesame wafers with strawberries
Makes 12-13 cakes
plain flour 130g
caster sugar 60g
butter 70g
double cream 75ml
vanilla extract a few drops
beaten egg for brushing
black sesame seeds 1 tbsp
golden sesame seeds 1 tbsp
caster sugar 2 tbsp
For the berries
strawberries 250g
balsamic vinegar 1 tsp
sugar 1 tbsp
a passionfruit heavy and lightly dimpled
double cream 200ml
rosewater a couple of drops
Put the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor and reduce to coarse crumbs. Add the cream and vanilla extract to form a firmish dough. Roll into a fat sausage on a floured work surface. Wrap in cling-film and chill for 30 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the fridge, cut into 3 equal pieces, then roll them out, 1 at a time, as thinly as you can.
Using a biscuit cutter or glass, cut discs of the pastry 6-7cm in diameter. You should get a total of 25-26 biscuits if you re-roll any scraps of pastry. Lay the biscuits on to a parchment-lined baking sheet then refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Set the oven at 160C/gas mark 3. Brush the biscuits with some of the beaten egg. Mix together the seeds and sugar. Scatter the sesame seeds and sugar over the biscuits then bake for 10-12 minutes until they are golden. Remove, leave for a couple of minutes then transfer carefully to a cooling rack. The wafers should be light and crisp.
While the biscuits are cooling, slice the strawberries into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with sugar. Trickle over the balsamic vinegar. Cut the passionfruit in half and squeeze its juice and seeds over the strawberries (sieve out the seeds if you wish). Chill. Whip the cream, adding the rosewater. Place a spoonful of cream on half of the biscuits, spoon some the strawberries on top then place a second biscuit on top of each. Serve any leftover cream on the side.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
