CHERRY DELIGHTS - DÉLICES A LA CERISE

He appears your friend, but
the Saint hides many Satans
He's contemptuous, you know
of your Godgiven stupidities
He calls you in question with
affected modesty and create
of you an object of derision [...]
- Except taken from the song "Master In Disguise" by Arcturus (Nor)

The weather is a devil in disguise which always manages to surprise us and never fails to be temperamental as well as unpredictable just like a tyrinnical diva. Generally, it's either all or nothing. One day you think that you are living in frostbitten Siberia and the next you'd get tricked into believing that you are residing in the sunny Mediterranean.

A few weeks ago, Europe was still being brushed by a coldwave that froze everything to the core. One had the impression that the North Pole had shifted to our latitudes. Then it was followed by a short interval of chilly, but decent late winter climate which gave way to extremely mild conditions, comparable to that of the end of April. Within a fortnight, the temperatures jumped up dramatically and we experienced an increase of about 30° C (86° f - from minus 14° C to 18° C). Incredible!

Now, it really feels like spring. The air has a distinctive metallic and marine odor similar to that you smell when boats are sitting in the summer heat, daylight lasts longer, primroses and snowdrops are starting to blossom in a parasitic manner, green shoots are appearing between the dead leaves, buds are getting fat and ready to explode, woodpeckers drill trees madly, in the morning and evening black birds sing loud enough to wake up the whole neighborhood, noisy and agitated flocks of crows circle menacingly overhead, cats fight like old rags and people are suddenly more optimistic than ever.

Springtime is the land awakening.

The March winds are the morning yawn.

- Lewis Grizzard

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.

- Chinese Proverb

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:  when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

- Charles Dickens

When you go out, you are greeted by a symphony of chirps and the warm rays of the sunshine on your pale and shy skin. Every place is bustling with activity. Joggers are doing their rounds, terrace cafés are alarmingly cacaphonous, the streets are bustling with dashing passer-bys and animals are busy getting ready for the birthing season.

Those drastic changes can be quite mind-boggling and tiring as your brain and body are having a hard time adapting to this abrupt transition. After having dressed up like the Michelin man for the last 4 months and eaten your good share of comfort foods without being upset about the calories you ingested, you are now having difficulties knowing what to put on as you are not ready to shed off your thick layer of reassuring clothes in order to reveal your dismally flabby belly, untoned legs and pudgy arms (please be reassured, I am exagerating for the sake of entertainment) .

What a shock! The disastrous vision of your unfit self is not a pleasant thing to aknowledge and suddenly, with sheer terror you realise how much you allowed yourself to become a little too lazy and careless.
So, even if you don't care about all this propaganda about being skinny and believe that healthy women should have curves in the right places, you nonetheless start panicking and feeling desperate and guilty as you wish you had not sat so much in front of your favorite series, hibernated like a big fat grizzly bear or gobbled all those gorgeously soul-uplifting calories during the entire duration of the winter.

Why did you enjoy so many rich meals and not exercise more? You ask yourself the same question over and over, and you can't stop blaming yourself for having given in to laxity. However you are not somebody who endless laments herself over her, thus you decide to take action and begin elaborating plans in order to regain control over your slack lifestyle...
 

Going through such phases is quite normal as it is in our nature to need to cocoon and raise our spirits with soothing grub when the climate is unfriendly. If we overdieted and did not take a moment to breathe as well as to slow down once in a while, we'd end up being malnourished, depressed and totally drained of our energy as we'd act against what our organism dictates us to do. We all have to accept that there are periods during which we have no other choice than to follow our instincts and listen to what our physical system tells us.

Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.
- Jim Rohn

The body too has its rights; and it will have them: they cannot be trampled on without peril. The body ought to be the soul's best friend.
Many good men however have neglected to make it such: so it has become a fiend and has plagued them.
- Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

Of course, whatever you do, you must never forget that any excess is dangerous and that you should privilege harmony over debauchery or overdiscipline. For that reason, I try to not dramatize the fact that my trousers are ever so slightly tighter, because I know that I haven't done anything terribly wrong and that I will soon be able to lose the extra grams I have gained lately. Nothing tragic here.

Spring is synonymous of rebirth, awakening as well as lightness and thankfully, it forces us to wake up and alter our behavior. That cosmic metamorphosis influences us greatly and consequently we go through some kind of natural reprogramming before the summer arrives. With the arrival of February, we begin to crave food that is less fat and heavy and we look forward to going for walks and getting closer to nature again. 

Even if I didn't properly let myself go, the cold season had its toll on me and now that April is at our doorstep, I feel boosted with a new energy and reconnected with my mortal frame. At the moment, I yearn for fresh, refined, flour-free and fruity desserts.

Being a passionate cook/baker, I am graced with a flourishing imagination, hence I am rarely short of resourcefulness and constantly come up with terrific ideas that I successfully turn into reality (flops happen, but they are outnumbered by favorable outcomes).

The verrine recipe I am presenting today, was invented on the occasion of a friend's visit. As I know that she is not against reasonable indulging and is not enclined to swallow tons of  artery-clogging victuals, I decided to offer her a heavenly sweet treat that would not sit on her stomach after our banquetting on "Apple & Celeriac Soup" and  "Guinness Shepherd's Pie".

Recently, pastry cream and griottes in syrup have been quite often on the menu, so I thought that it would be wonderul to concoct a sweet pudding which would combine both and would emphasize the delights of cherries. This lead me to associating the flavors of sour cherries with that of mahleb.

To accompany my fruits, I made a straight-forward crème pâtissière and incorporated a few teaspoons of this Middle-Eastern aromatic spice into it, then once the preparation was cold I folded in some whipped egg white in order to obtain a fluffy and delicate mousse consistency. To add a bit of crunch to the whole thing, I prepared a healthy granola with oats, honey, tahini and a spit of butter. Once everything was ready, I arranged those three components in alternating layers and presented them in pretty glasses.

As you can imagine, my "Cherry Delights" were a total winner and disappeared very fast. Seeing Corinne and P. gobble them greedily brought a smile on my face. There is no better reward than catching a glimpse of the people who you are close to you having a blast while savoring something you have lovingly made for them!

~ Cherry Delights ~
Recipe by Rosa Mayland, March 2012

For 6 people/makes 6 verrines.

Ingredients For The "Granola":

3/4 Cup (90g) Quick cooking oats

3 Tbs Runny honey

1 Tbs Tahini

1 Tbs Unsalted butter

Ingredients For The "Pastry Cream Mousse":
2 1/4 Cups (540ml) Whole milk
2 Tsp Mahleb
1/3 Tsp Fine sea salt
4 Tbs Cornstarch
1/2 Cup + 1 Tbs (125g) Castor sugar

2 Eggs (~ 63g)

1 Egg yolk
1 Tsp Pure vanilla extract

4 Tbs Unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 Egg white

2 Tbs Powder sugar, sifted

Ingredients For "Assembling":
250g Stoned sour cherries/griottes (preserved in syrup), drained

Method For The "Granola":

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C.

2. In a pan, melt the butter, add the honey and tahini.

3. Add this mixture to the oats and combine well, making sure that the oats are coated with the liquid.

4. Spread on a tray covered with baking paper.
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Let cool completely before using.

Method For The "Pastry Cream":
7. Put the milk, mahleb and salt in a pan, bring to a light boil.
8. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch,  2 eggs, 1 yolk and vanilla extract until smooth, fluffy and light/pale in color.
9. While constantly whisking, slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture.
10. Return the whole to the saucepan.
11. Over medium heat and while whisking non-stop, cook until you get a thick consistency (just bring to a slight boil).
12. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Let cool for 10 minutes and then incorporate the butter, a little at a time, until the pastry cream is smooth and shiny .
13. Cover the surface with clingplastic, directly touching the cream. Let cool completely.
14. Once the pastry cream is at room temperature, whisk it in order to make it smooth again.
15. Beat  the egg white until soft peaks form.
16. Add the  powdered sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks appear.
17. Incorporate delicately the egg whites to the pastry cream.
Method For "Assembling The Verrines":
18. Start filling the bottom of the glasses with about 2-3 Tbs pastry cream mousse, add about 1 1/2 Tbs granola and then the cherries (6-7).
19. Repeat the process once more and finish with an extra layer of pastry cream mousse.
20. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.
21. Just before serving, sprinkle with some of the leftover granola.

Comments:
If you don't have any mahleb, then add a little more vanilla extract to the pastry cream or a few drops almond extract.
You can replace the tahini by the same quantity of butter.
You can also make this dessert with fresh cherries (I recommend the darker variety).
Please note that I weighed the cherries once drained.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as dessert with some bubbly wine (Champagne, Clairette De Die or  Prosecco) or some quality Sauterne, Vin Santo, Gewürtzraminer, Amaretto or Maraschino.

~ Délices A La Cerise ~
Recette par Rosa Mayland, mars 2012.

Pour 6 personnes/verrines.

Ingrédients Pour Le "Granola":  
90g de Flocons d'avoine
3 CS de Miel liquide
1 CS de Tahini
1 CS de Beurre non-salé
Ingrédients Pour La "Mousse De Crème Pâtissière":
540ml de Lait entier

2 CC de Mahlep
1/3 CC de Sel de mer fin
4 CS de Maïzena (fécule de maïs)
125g de Sucre cristallisé
2 Gros oeufs (~ 63g)

1 Jaune d'oeuf
1 CC d'Extrait de vanille pure
60g de Beurre non-salé, coupé en petits cubes
1 Blanc d'oeuf
2 CS de Sucre en poudre, tamisé
Ingrédients Pour Le "Montage":
250g de Griottes dénoyautées au sirop, égouttées

Méthode Pour Le "Granola":
1. Préchauffer le four à 180 ° C.
2. Dans une casserole, faire fondre le beurre, ajouter le miel et le tahini.
3. Ajouter ce mélange à l'avoine et bien mélanger. Faire en sorte que les flocons d'avoine soient recouverts par le liquide.
4. Étendre sur une plaque recouverte de papier sulfurisé.
5. Cuire au four pendant environ 20-25 minutes, en remuant toutes les 5 minutes.
6. Laisser refroidir complètement avant d'utiliser.

Méthode Pour La "Mousse De Crème Pâtissière":
7. Mettre le lait, le mahlep et le sel dans une casserole, porter à ébullition (tout juste).
8. Dans un grand bol, battre ensemble le sucre, la fécule, les 2 oeufs, le jaune d'oeuf et la vanille jusqu'à ce le mélange soit pâle et mousseux.
9. Tout en fouettant constamment, verser lentement le lait dans le mélange (tempérage).
10. Verser l'ensemble dans la casserole.
11. À feu moyen et en fouettant en continu, faire cuire jusqu'à obtention une consistance épaisse, lisse et crémeuse.
12. Après ébullition, retirer du feu et versez dans un bol. Laisser refroidir pendant 10 minutes puis incorporer le beurre, un peu à la fois, jusqu'à ce que la crème pâtissière soit lisse et brillante.
13. Couvrir la surface avec du film plastique (toucher directement la crème pâtissière). Laisser refroidir complètement avant d'utiliser.
14. Une fois la crème pâtissière est à température ambiante, la fouetter afin de le rendre lisse.
15. Battre le blanc d'oeuf jusqu'à ce qu'il forme des pics mous.
16. Ajouter le sucre en poudre et continuer de battre jusqu'à formation de pics rigides.
17. Incorporer délicatement les blancs d'oeufs à la crème pâtissière.
Méthode Pour "Assemblage Les Verrines":
18. Commencer à remplir le fond des verres avec environ 2-3 cuillères à soupe de mousse de  crème pâtissière, ajouter environ 1 1/2 cuillères à soupe de granola, puis les cerises (6-7).
19. Répétez l'opération encore une fois et finir avec une couche supplémentaire de mousse de crème pâtissière.
20. Réserver les verrines au frigo jusqu'au moment de servir.
21. Juste avant de servir, saupoudrer avec le granola restant.
 

Commentaires:
Si vous n'avez pas de mahlep, vous pouvez incoporer un petit peu plus d'extrait de vanille ou quelques gouttes d'extrait d'amande dans le lait pour la crème pâtissière.

Vous pouvez aussi remplacer le tahini par la même quantité de beurre.
Ce dessert peut aussi être préparé avec des cerises fraîches (je recommande d'utiliser des cerises foncées).
Faites bien attention d'utiliser 250g de griottes égouttés - na pas peser les cerises dans leur jus.

Suggestions d'accompagnement:
Servir en guise de dessert avec un verre de vin mousseux (Champagne, Clairette de Die ou Prosecco) ou de Sauterne, Vin Santo, Gewurtzraminer, d'Amaretto ou de Maraschino.