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Blackcurrants and Custard
Aug. 10th, 2011 06:52 pm So. After the adventure of "using rhubarb in things that aren't pie" earlier this year, I began to fixate on the idea of mixing the vanilla-scented creme anglaise used here with a fruit even more hardcore than rhubarb.
Yes, I realize rhubarb is more solidly a vegetable than many conventional "vegetables" (cukes, eggplant, peppers). Bear with me, here.
Driven by memories of imported candies from Woolworth's candy counter, I wanted blackcurrants and custard. Blackcurrants are intense fruits; you don't so much eat them as you agree to be attacked by them. The juice is tongue-curling, with a taste so strong it's hard to say where "tart" leaves off and "bitter" begins. The jam puts up a fight as you spread it on toast. Cranberries are insipid by comparison, a one-dimensional taste compared with an explosion of "ARGH" in three dimensions-- dark, sharp, sour.
The problem is, blackcurrants are bloody hard to find in the US. We don't go for them here-- our WWII kiddies didn't get dosed with blackcurrant cordial to get their vitamin C. Insipid "grape" flavor fills the niche that belongs to blackcurrants in our sweets section. Even worse, cultivation of blackcurrants was banned for a good long time. So, after looking up prices of mail-order blackcurrants, and contemplating a smuggling run into Canada, I gave up on the idea for a while. Then on Monday, the fruit market happened to have half-a-dozen little baskets of blackcurrants, hiding out amongst the stoutly Michigan blackberries and raspberries. I picked one up without remembering what I wanted it for-- I think I was contemplating a sauce for meat at the time. Today, I remembered, and rushed back to the market after work to retrieve another two baskets.
So, the idea is roughly the same as the rhubarb recipe. Poach the blackcurrants with a little sugar and a little orange juice. They look quite innocent in the pan, like cooked-down wild blueberries, but they'll sting you with all that ascorbic acid if you try to steal a spoonful. While the blackcurrants simmer, make a soft custard with egg yolks, heavy cream, sugar. Stir that 'til it "coats the back of a spoon" (tonight that took a flipping half-hour!), then remove from heat and stir in a good spoonful of vanilla. Let both components cool, and then add a few spoonfuls of each to a dessert cup and fold it together once to mingle the fruit with the custard. Enjoy-- a proper ratio of blackcurrants to custard is essential to make this delicious.
Oh, yes, I used the leftover egg whites to make an omelet for dinner. Egg-white omelets are a travesty, but this one served its purpose.
ETA: Homemade blackcurrant syrup + white wine = YUM. The color is... odd... though.
Yes, I realize rhubarb is more solidly a vegetable than many conventional "vegetables" (cukes, eggplant, peppers). Bear with me, here.
Driven by memories of imported candies from Woolworth's candy counter, I wanted blackcurrants and custard. Blackcurrants are intense fruits; you don't so much eat them as you agree to be attacked by them. The juice is tongue-curling, with a taste so strong it's hard to say where "tart" leaves off and "bitter" begins. The jam puts up a fight as you spread it on toast. Cranberries are insipid by comparison, a one-dimensional taste compared with an explosion of "ARGH" in three dimensions-- dark, sharp, sour.
The problem is, blackcurrants are bloody hard to find in the US. We don't go for them here-- our WWII kiddies didn't get dosed with blackcurrant cordial to get their vitamin C. Insipid "grape" flavor fills the niche that belongs to blackcurrants in our sweets section. Even worse, cultivation of blackcurrants was banned for a good long time. So, after looking up prices of mail-order blackcurrants, and contemplating a smuggling run into Canada, I gave up on the idea for a while. Then on Monday, the fruit market happened to have half-a-dozen little baskets of blackcurrants, hiding out amongst the stoutly Michigan blackberries and raspberries. I picked one up without remembering what I wanted it for-- I think I was contemplating a sauce for meat at the time. Today, I remembered, and rushed back to the market after work to retrieve another two baskets.
So, the idea is roughly the same as the rhubarb recipe. Poach the blackcurrants with a little sugar and a little orange juice. They look quite innocent in the pan, like cooked-down wild blueberries, but they'll sting you with all that ascorbic acid if you try to steal a spoonful. While the blackcurrants simmer, make a soft custard with egg yolks, heavy cream, sugar. Stir that 'til it "coats the back of a spoon" (tonight that took a flipping half-hour!), then remove from heat and stir in a good spoonful of vanilla. Let both components cool, and then add a few spoonfuls of each to a dessert cup and fold it together once to mingle the fruit with the custard. Enjoy-- a proper ratio of blackcurrants to custard is essential to make this delicious.
Oh, yes, I used the leftover egg whites to make an omelet for dinner. Egg-white omelets are a travesty, but this one served its purpose.
ETA: Homemade blackcurrant syrup + white wine = YUM. The color is... odd... though.
