I keep thinking about what cookbook author and chef
said on her gloriously Midwestern radio show Ham Radio that rings true to me. To paraphrase: In the winter, heartland cooks delve into recipes or cookbooks to decide what to cook for dinner or bake for dessert, then they head to the grocery store. In the summer, that gets flipped. We let the garden, the farmers market, or even the grocer dictate our menu, then we dig through our cookbooks (or use Eat Your Books) to find a recipe that meets the day.Well, my backyard herb garden has exploded. Herbs start out as these tiny little precious plants that you hesitate to harvest, then one day you panic because you have too much. I'm at that second phase. This was the first year I grew chamomile, and I'm enchanted. I didn't think that these little plants would yield many flowers, and now I'm in the backyard every day picking these sunny yellow blossoms that smell like a cozy, honey hug.
My summer baking (and savory cooking) revolves around a fruit-plus-herb )or veggie plus-herb) combination. A tarragon and fresh cherry chicken salad lifted my Monday lunch into something special. Today it's apricots and chamomile.
Chamomile Pudding with Honey Roasted Apricots
I could call this chamomile custard, but pudding seems more approachable. A sunny, sensuous, subtly flavored custard sings when topped with tart, velvety, honey-roasted apricots. A little crunch of chopped nuts or crumbled shortbread makes a classy-meets-comfy, make-ahead dessert that leaves you feeling light yet satisfied.
I'm busting a myth right now: You do not need to temper your custard. Just mix everything in one pan and cook it slowly at first. Then crank the heat and cook it until it bubbles.
Makes 4-6 servings.
For the pudding:
480 g (2 cups) whole milk
12 g fresh or dried chamomile or 3 chamomile tea bags
80 g sugar
20 g (about 2 Tablespoons) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 large egg yolks1
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
20 g butter, cold and cubed
For the apricots:
4-8 fresh apricots
About 3 Tablespoons honey
Big pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons of apricot brandy or white wine (ideally Riesling)
To garnish:
Chopped pistachios and/or crumbled shortbread cookies
Pinch of flaky salt
Make the Pudding:
Steep the milk. Place the chamomile flowers or tea bags and milk into a saucepan, and bring to a gentle simmer, when it just starts to bubble on the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let the chamomile steep for 6-8 minutes. Strain out the leaves or remove the tea bags, pressing gently to squeeze out any extra milk. Add additional milk to get to 480 g (2 cups) of liquid. (At this point, you can chill the steeped milk for up to a day if you don't want to make the pudding right away.)
Cook the pudding. If you've decanted the milk into another bowl or pan, you can mix the whole pastry cream in the pan. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt to the pan and whisk together, add the egg yolks and immediately whisk vigorously until slightly lightened in color. Slowly add the warm milk mixture while whisking. Heat the mixture over low heat until very steaming, about 4-6 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Pause whisking occasionally to see if it's bubbling. Once you see the first bubble come to the surface, continue cooking and whisking for one full minute.2
Add the vanilla extract and cubed butter, then whisk vigorously to combine and melt the butter.
Chill. Scrape the pudding into a bowl, then cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the pudding. Cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator until cold.
Roast the apricots:
Heat the oven to 425°F, with a rack in the middle.
Prepare the apricots. Halve and pit the apricots, and cut each half in half. If you have huge apricots, cut them into eighths. Place them, cut-side up in a small ceramic or tempered glass baking dish. Sprinkle them with salt, drizzle them with honey, and add the apricot brandy or white wine.
Bake until bubbling and the apricots soften, but don't totally turn to mush, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. (Don't stir them too vigourously or you might mush them up.) You can also make this a day ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator.
To serve:
Whip. Just before eating, I like to whisk the pudding briefly with a hand mixer or stand mixer to lighten the texture.
Portion and garnish. Spoon a serving (whatever that means to you) of pudding into a small bowl, top with 3-4 roasted apricot quarters, and sprinkle with pistachios or crumbled shortbread. Finish with some flaky salt if you want. Enjoy!
The pudding and apricots can hang out in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Happy Baking
Martin
As always, you can freeze the leftover egg whites.
Nerd note: Cooking your pudding for one minute after it bubbles helps to deactivate the amylase enzyme found in egg yolks. Amylase can break down starch, which could eventually lead to a runny pudding.