Desserts / WATERMELON AND LEMON VERBENA SOUP
The perfect summer party dessert featuring watermelon brunoise in a refreshing, icy lemon verbena soup.
Recipe courtesy of Chef Gray Kunz of Cafe Gray Deluxe.
Making tuiles
- Combine ingredients and add melted butter. Mix thoroughly, chill before use.
- Place rounded 1?2 tsp portions on Silpat-covered baking tray. Flatten with wet fork into thin circles 1mm thick. Allow space for tuiles to expand.
- Preheat oven at 160°C, bake until golden brown. Cool completely, break into shards, store in airtight container.
Scraping vanilla seeds
- Cut down middle of vanilla bean. Use knife to scrape off seeds inside.
- Transfer seeds to 60g bowl of sugar. Pinch into sugar to combine.
Lemon verbena soup
- In a saucepan of unheated water, add vanilla sugar. Whisk constantly, bring to boil.
- Turn heat off and add whole verbena leaves. Allow to soak for 2 mins. Pour through strainer to remove leaves.
- Let cool thoroughly, season if necessary. Set 200g of soup aside, freeze the rest until slushy but not frozen solid.
Verbena granite
- Combine ingredients and whisk until thoroughly dissolved.
- Freeze and fork into slushee a la minute.
Watermelon and verbena leaves garnish
- Cut watermelon into 3mm slices. Stack together, slice in 3mm increments. Quarter-turn watermelon, slice again in 3mm increments to make cubes. Refrigerate.
- Stack verbena leaves and roll tightly, thinly slice, chiffonade style. Quarter turn and thinly slice again.
Arrangement
- Scoop watermelon and chopped verbena leaves into a bowl.
- Cover with verbena soup slush. Place tuile on top, and add a spoonful of verbena granite onto the tuile.
INGREDIENTS
- (Serves ten)
- Tuile
- Orange juice (50g)
- 10X confectioner’s sugar (100g)
- All-purpose flour (30g)
- Melted butter (50g)
- Finely chopped orange zest (1 thin strip)
- Finely chopped lemon zest (1 thin strip)
- Finely chopped lime zest (1 thin strip)
- Lemon Verbena Soup
- Water (600g)
- Granulated sugar (60g)
- Lemon verbena leaves (15g)
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- Verbena Granite
- Lemon verbena soup (200g)
- Vodka (1/8 cup)
- Granulated sugar (18g)
- Lemon juice to taste
- Garnish
- Watermelon (240g)
- Lemon verbena leaves (30g)
WINE PAIRING
- Moscato d’Asti “Biancospino” La Spinetta 2008
- A delicate floral and fruity bouquet with a lingering finish
- Wine pairing by Alan Liu of The French Window
MUSIC PAIRING
- Artist : Herbie Hancock
- Title: Head Hunters Date : 1973 Label : Sony
- Music pairing by The Hedonist
WHERE TO BUY
- Lemon verbena leaves
- high-end supermarkets
PREP TIME & COOK TIME
- 10 mins; 10 mins
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