White Chocolate and Honey Cream Summer Berry Parfaits with Lavender-scented Meringues - SHF#10

15 July 2005

It seems like the monthly SHF keeps me going – Nic of bakingsheet chose honey for this month’s theme – although I made honey mousse for a previous SHF, I wanted to try another recipe using summer berries as you can get so many fresh varieties at the moment – and I found a tempting recipe in Emily Luchetti’s A Passion for Desserts, which contains honey and strawberries – so I had to give it a try.

I thought the combination of honey and white chocolate was interesting and I must say that it turned out much better than I expected. I don’t know why but I feel nostalgic every time I taste honey and this cream made me feel even more so. I used redcurrants and strawberries this time, but I’m sure this custard goes well with any berries. I also made meringues with lavender-scented sugar, which worked well with the parfaits. I added a few drops of red colouring to the meringues (as I wanted them to look pretty with the berries) but you can leave it out of course. You leave lavender stalks in the sugar for a couple of days (I used fresh) – I hoped I would be able to taste the lavender and although it was subtle, I could. We enjoyed this summery dessert in our newly re-done garden (we did everything ourselves, including fencing, decking and paving) – I really hope the English summer lasts long enough to enjoy it.
 


 

Makes 8 servings

5 ounces white chocolate
3 tablespoons honey (I used lavender honey this time)
8 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 1/2 pints berries of your choice

Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Heat the honey to lukewarm. Place the honey and the egg yolks in the bowl and whip until thick, about a few minutes.

Warm 3/4 cup of the cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk the cream into the egg yolks.

Return the cream mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. As the honey cream cook and thickens, stir with both a whisk and a heat-resistant rubber spatula, switching back and forth between the two. Cook until thick. Remove from the heat and whisk in the melted white chocolate. Transfer the honey cream mixture to a bowl and cool over an ice bath, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula.

Whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup cream and the sour cream until soft peaks form. Fold into the honey cream.

Slice any larger berries. Layer them and the honey cream in glasses. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
 

Oh, and a new series of Full on Food started on BBC2. Heston Blumenthal and Richard Corrigan are among the presenters – Mr Blumenthal cooked the famous snail porridge this week, and yes it was indeed snail and porridge!
 

Food - Sweet        28 comments    Permalink

  • I would love just a bowl of those lucious berries! with the meringue and cream I would be in HEAVEN!

    Posted by clare eats | 15 July 2005 #
  • Wow, it looks gorgeous. And seems fairly easy, which I fully support! The lavender honey sounds lovely. Stunning pictures, as usual!

    Posted by Michele | 15 July 2005 #
  • Keiko, summer berries are such a treat and this recipe seems like a perfect combination of mellow flavors to enjoy on a hot night.

    I love the second picture, all those reds and pinks look incredible. Great job!

    Posted by Gemma | 15 July 2005 #
  • sounds like the perfect dish for the weekend - can’t wait to try it.....thank you!

    Posted by Alison McQuade | 15 July 2005 #
  • White chocolate and honey is suprising combination! Everything about your entry is gorgeous, as usual, Keiko. Thanks for participating in this month’s SHF!

    Posted by Nic | 15 July 2005 #
  • hi keiko, how exquisite! those berries look so ripe and luscious i almost reached out to touch the screen...passion for desserts looks like a great book, although i must confess it has been sitting on my shelf accusingly (i have yet to use it...)cheers,j

    Posted by | 15 July 2005 #
  • Wonderful photography as usual! I agree with all of the others about that fruit, yum! The whole combination sounds utterly delightful.

    Posted by Alice | 15 July 2005 #
  • your pictures are exquisite, and your eye for food photography is incredible, please tell me you photograph for food publications. Anyway, I stumbled onto your site in my quest for a green tea ganache recipe, and saw your beautiful opera cake. I’m just curious, do you know of how I may go about making a green tea ganache, or where I may find a recipe?

    Posted by Como | 15 July 2005 #
  • sigh, redcurrants, dreaming of summer pudding, sigh
    you just don’t see them in CA. Although someone kindly emailed me a place where i might be able to get hold of them. I can make summer pudding without them but it just isn’t the same! But those ones look way too good to cook! I don’t think I have ever seen them so big, fat and juicy!

    Posted by sam | 16 July 2005 #
  • Hey what about some pictures of the garden?!

    Posted by Lee | 16 July 2005 #
  • The white chocolate and honey cream sounds wonderful.

    Posted by Barbara | 16 July 2005 #
  • Hi Keiko,

    This sounds so delicious and refreshing. Unfortunately for me, I’m unable to get fresh red currants here. =(

    Posted by Reid | 17 July 2005 #
  • Hi Keiko, Great post and photos as always. I used to have a bee hive, so have always been a fan of honey.

    Posted by Chefdoc | 17 July 2005 #
  • Hi there,

    Clare - I’ve been enjoying lots of berries every day!

    Michele - I think this one works very well with orange blossom honey as well.

    Gemma - thanks, I’m sure I’m making it again soon!

    Alison - I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

    Nic - thank you for choosing a great theme!

    J - I thought you might have her book too ;) I just got it and am looking forward to trying other things.

    Alice - thank you, white chocolate and honey worked really well.

    Como - thank you for your kind note. As for the green tea ganache (I assume you’re talking about buttercream), I just added matcha (mix the matcha with a little water before adding) into the finished cream instead of coffee).

    Sam - oh, I made you homesick again...

    Lee - I’ll try to put some pictures when we get more plants!

    Barbara - I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

    Reid - you can get lots of things we can’t get here in the UK!

    Chefdoc - wow, beehive! So you had your own special honey!

    Posted by keiko | 18 July 2005 #
  • ugh, i’m so ENVIOUS! no red currants available here -- i’m growing some but no harvest ’til next year! those look so yummy and absolutely gorgeous!

    Posted by stef | 18 July 2005 #
  • hi Keiko, thanks for sharing this nice berry dip. Perfect for summer! I have a particular bias to strawberries and I’ll try this next time we do a pick-your-own. :)

    Posted by celiaK | 18 July 2005 #
  • Keiko - beautiful and delicious sounding as usual. I love the combination of honey with white chocolate...that sounds amazing.

    Thanks so much for joining in on SHF once again!

    Posted by Jennifer | 18 July 2005 #
  • I definitly love your site. Your pictures are amazzing.
    Love
    Fanny

    Posted by Fanny | 18 July 2005 #
  • Hi Stef - you must have green fingers, looking forward to seeing your lovely redcurrants next year. I just started growing herbs in our garden!

    Hi Celia - I love strawberries too, hope you enjoy PYO!

    Hi Jennifer - I must say that SHF is my favourite event, I’m sure I’d be posting much less if you didn’t come up with it!

    Posted by keiko | 18 July 2005 #
  • Hi Fanny - thank you so much for your kind note as always!

    Posted by keiko | 18 July 2005 #
  • No berries here :( so sad!

    Posted by clare eats | 19 July 2005 #
  • Oh Clare, I’m sure you can find something - I think the custard works well with other fruit too.

    Posted by keiko | 20 July 2005 #
  • Wow! Great photo, I like how you cropped it with part of the glass out of the picture that makes it much more interesting.

    Posted by Smoove D | 20 July 2005 #
  • Hi Smoove D - thank you, I didn’t mean to crop it when I was taking the picture, but this was how it turned out (so I guess I was lucky...)

    Posted by keiko | 21 July 2005 #
  • Such a perfect seasonal dessert! I will have to make it myself. Looks great Keiko, as always.

    Posted by Kelli | 22 July 2005 #
  • Hi Kelli - I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

    Posted by keiko | 25 July 2005 #
  • Cangratulations for this perfect and elegant site!Everything seems so delicious and aesthetic.I will try most of them as soon as possible!

    Posted by Ulviye Idil Erzen | 1 February 2006 #
  • Hi Ulviye - thanks so much for your kind notes, I hope you’ll have chance to try some of them.

    Posted by keiko | 2 February 2006 #

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