A very easy recipe that will allow you to discover the subtle taste of the meadowsweet, this white flower that gives a note of almond (for my part I will even say of tonka bean!) to your desserts.
Meadowsweet has many medicinal properties. In particular, it contains spiritistic acid (which gave it the name aspirin) which is chemically identical to salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin. Do not consume if you are allergic to aspirin…
Of course, only make this recipe if you are sure you are picking meadowsweet, you don’t mess with wild plants 🙂
Meadowsweet pudding
Ingredients
- 1/2 L milk cow’s milk or vegetable milk
- About 6 freshly picked meadowsweet flower heads
- 2 eggs
- 50 g sugar
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 g agar agar powder optional
Instructions
- Start by detaching the small flowers, taking care to remove the green stems which would give a too bitter taste to your preparation.
- Then boil the milk in a saucepan, remove it from the heat and infuse the flowers for about an hour. I put the flowers in a clean cheesecloth, tie it in a knot and put it in the pot.
- After letting the flowers steep, remove them, either by pressing the cheesecloth well to extract the liquid before removing it, or by using a chinois (very fine strainer), pressing the flowers well to extract all the liquid.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and add corn starch.
- Then add the milk.
- Put the mixture back into the pan and heat it up while whisking continuously. You can add the agar-agar at this point to give your dessert a thicker texture.
- When the mixture is boiling, turn off the heat. Leave the mixture to cool (you can put the mixture in another container) for about 20 minutes and stir from time to time. Then pour into 4 ramekins. Place in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight if you are making the desserts the day before.
- Serve the puddings well chilled.
Notes
You can put some red fruits (raspberries, cherries or strawberries for instance) or rhubarb compote on the cream.
This recipe can also be made with other flowers, depending on the season, you could try with sweet woodruff or acacia for example.
And why not try other recipes with meadowsweet? For example a crème brûlée! Or in a fruit tart… it’s up to your imagination!