White Nectarine Sorbet with Blackberries in Five-Spice Cookie Cups
Up until a few years ago, white peaches and nectarines were an oddity in America and finding them was nearly impossible. Happily, they’ve now become fairly common, and you can spot them in grocery stores and farmers’ markets across the land. Their flavor is not as intense as their yellow counterparts, but their delicacy is part of their appeal. Also appealing is how when white nectarines are cooked with their skins and then puréed, the finished mixture is an ivory hue with a faint touch of rosy pink. I came up with this dessert when I was the pastry chef at Monsoon, an Asian restaurant run by Bruce Cost, one of the best cooks I’ve ever met in my life. Unlike American dinners, most Asian meals don’t end with a full-on dessert. So my challenge was to create desserts that customers would find appealing enough to order after sharing spicy, authentic, and sometimes challenging fare—like the turtle soup served with raw turtle eggs floating on the surface, or the sea slugs that tasted (slightly) better than they looked. I had to make sure the desserts would bring people back from whatever culinary precipice we took them to. This fruit sorbet, resting in a five-spice cookie cup and served with berries steeped in sweet plum wine, was the perfect landing pad.
Recipe information
Yield
makes about 1 quart (1 liter) sorbet; 6 servings
Ingredients
Sorbet
Cookie cups
Blackberries
Preparation
Step 1
To make the sorbet, in a medium saucepan, combine the nectarine slices and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the nectarines are soft and tender, about 10 minutes. Add the 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
Step 2
Purée the nectarines with their cooking liquid in a food processor fitted with the metal blade or in a blender. Pour the purée into a medium bowl, taste, and add lemon juice or kirsch to your liking. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Step 3
Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Step 4
To make the cookie cups, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter 2 baking sheets, dust the baking sheets with flour, and tap off any excess. (You can line the baking sheets with parchment paper instead, but the cookies won’t come off as easily.)
Step 5
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, star anise, and Szechuan pepper. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter and 1/3 cup (65 g) sugar on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Beat in the egg whites one at a time, then stir in the flour mixture.
Step 6
Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter in a mound for each cookie; allow only 3 per baking sheet and space them evenly apart. Using an offset metal spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the mounds into 6-inch (15-cm) circles as evenly as possible. Have ready 3 overturned custard cups or tea cups.
Step 7
Bake one baking sheet at a time until the cookies are lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and, using a thin metal spatula, quickly lift each cookie off the baking sheet and drape it over an overturned cup. Immediately mold the cookie around the cup using your hands. (If the cookies cool and harden before you can shape them all, resoften them by warming in the oven for 30 to 45 seconds.) Let the cookies cool on the cups. Once firm enough to handle, lift the cookies off the cups and set on a wire rack to crisp. Repeat with the second baking sheet.
Step 8
To prepare the blackberries, in a medium skillet, boil the plum wine until reduced by about one-third. Add the blackberries and 2 tablespoons (30 g) sugar, decrease the heat to low, and cook until the berries soften and the juices become thick and syrupy. Remove from the heat and let cool for at least 15 minutes.
Step 9
To serve, center a cookie cup on each of 6 individual plates. Fill with 2 or 3 scoops of sorbet, then spoon some of the berries and their syrup over and around the sorbet. Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds or sesame seeds.
Storage
Step 10
The batter for the cookie cups can be prepared up to 1 week in advance and refrigerated. The cookie cups can be baked 1 day ahead and stored in an airtight container.
Step 11
The blackberries can be prepared up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated; they actually benefit from being made in advance.
Variation
Step 12
Yellow nectarines can be used in place of white nectarines.
tips
Step 13
You can substitute 1 tablespoon premixed store-bought five-spice powder in place of the spice mixture I’ve suggested.
Step 14
Asian grocery stores and well-stocked supermarkets carry plum wine. If unavailable, you can substitute white or rosé wine.
