delicate frozen parfait, a French classic. I used a dried food-grade lavender (I got mine from www.myspicesage.com), but you can also use fresh lavender from your garden. You can top the parfait with sliced strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries, but I think I like blueberries best. If you prefer, you can also freeze this
dessert in a plastic wrap-lined loaf pan. Just unmold it and serve it sliced with the berries on top.
Adapted from Kate Zuckerman’s recipe in The Sweet Life: Desserts From Chanterelle (Bulfinch
Press, 2006)
Makes 8 servings
Parfait:
8 large egg yolks
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 ½ tablespoons dried lavender or 4 fresh
stalks
Pinch of salt
3 cups heavy cream
1. Place the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons
of the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk at medium speed.
Simultaneously, in a small saucepan, combine the remaining ½ cup sugar, honey, ¼
cup water and lavender (if you are using fresh lavender, just use the flowers
and leaves). Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook over
medium-high heat until it reaches 248°F. Pass the hot sugar syrup through a
fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup. Discard the lavender. With the mixer set
on medium-high speed, quickly pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks in a
continuous stream. Add the salt. Whisk the egg yolks until they become pale,
have tripled in volume, and are just slightly warm.
2. Whip the cream to soft peaks. Scrape
the whipped cream into the whipped yolks and fold in until well combined.
Divide among 8 wine or serving glasses and freeze for at least 4 hours.
3. Once frozen, serve the parfaits topped
with berries that have been macerated in sugar for 15 minutes (for blueberries,
add a small amount of water or lemon juice, too).
