in the kitchen x blueberry chiboust

Blueberries are everywhere at the farmer's market. Their abundance inspired me to play around and make some kind of dessert. Pairing blueberries with some fruits in season, I came up with this dessert. I love a good chiboust, and this blueberry version taste like blueberries and cream courtesy of the white chocolate. Included are ground cherries, red currants, blackberries, coconut crumble, coconut cake, and coconut sorbet. The contrast of all the other textures with the smooth and creamy chiboust makes this interesting. I adore coconuts (since they remind me of tropical vacations and hot summer days), hence the coconut flavor all around. While this won't make it to the dessert menu, it's always fun to play around and challenge myself with thinking up of new desserts.

in the kitchen x black sesame bavarois

Ever since I tried black sesame ice cream, I have become obsessed with creating a black sesame dessert. This is not your typical black sesame "cake". The dacquoise is made with a mixture of flour and ground black sesame. The black sesame is steeped in heavy cream, for a delicate and luscious bavarois. The first version of the black sesame dessert is topped with red currants, frais de bois, black sesame seeds and vanilla ice cream. While pretty, I wasn't convinced that strawberries and vanilla were the best accompaniments to black sesame's nutty and distinct flavor. What finally made it on the menu is a thicker black sesame "cake" topped with blueberry compote, sesame tuile, honey powder, and ginger and lemongrass ice cream. The texture of the delicate bavarois and crunchy tuile is a great contrast, and juicy, bursting blueberries complement the black sesame perfectly. The ginger and lemongrass ice cream hold their own next to the black sesame flavor. This is the perfect dessert for a warm summer night. 

in the kitchen x green market pavlova

A pavlova is the perfect way to showcase all the amazing things I have been able to find at the green market. A cornucopia of fruit! Or rather, a tube of lemon meringue. I have been fiddling around with meringue and acetate, trying to make as little mess as possible. Spreading the meringue on acetate, and then taping the sides together to form a tube sounds simple. For an impatient person like me, it got tiresome after tube number three. Anyway, when paired with fruit, the crunchy lemon meringue holds a bed of soft vanilla whipped cream topped with fresh juicy fruits. Underneath is a luscious coconut tapioca. White on white, and a plethora of fresh fruit to boot. I used raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries, black raspberries, red currants, and pea flowers. It's a simple but genius concept that combines a crunchy, soft, acidic, and fresh bite in one go.

in the kichen x fraises de bois

Strawberries rarely make it on the menu for long. Some days heaps of beautiful strawberries can be found at the market, and other days, nary a decent strawberry to be found. With an abundance of strawberries for once, I played around with some leftover mise en place at my disposal. These fraises de bois (wild strawberries) are tiny, the size of raspberries! They are tangy, with a sweet refreshing finish. Lightyears away from the supermarket variety packaged in plastic and refridgerated. It's paired with a lemon ricotta cheesecake, strawberry reduction, pea flowers, caramelized hazelnuts and sweet cream ice cream. Super simple. Simplicity reigns when you get fresh market goods, good ricotta, and local milk and cream. Bonus question: Can you spot the mini pea sprouting from a flower?

in the kitchen x ricotta cheesecake, frog hollow peaches, and bourbon

Imagine a light ricotta cheesecake sitting on a spoonful of buttery Maker's Mark sauce. On top of the cake are fresh blueberries, micro basil, sliced Frog Hollow peaches dripping with sugary goodness, and a sprinkling of a nutty hazelnut crumble with traces of cinnamon. Enjoy all this with a canelle of prosciutto ice cream. This is my newest addition to the summer dessert menu. The prosciutto ice cream is such a challenging item to pair with because it is a very delicate (who knew you could use prosciutto and delicate in the same sentence). Good thing the sweet, salty, and pork flavor of this ice cream ends up pairing  pretty well with fresh fruit. Now that summer is here, I've just been so excited to showcase the bounty of produce in it's perfect state. Our first shipment of Frog Hollow peaches came in from CA and I couldn't be more excited. They needed a couple of days to reach optimal ripeness, but hey, all good things are worth waiting for. The sweet and juicy fruit is such a good match for the prosciutto and ricotta. Everything together evokes such memories of a good summer meal, namely, fresh fruit, crispy pork, and bourbon.