Happily a Verrine

I've been putting in long hours at school these days, lab work, writing, lab work, blog reading, writing, writing, writing...

When I get home, it's hard to get motivated to cook too much. But I know that if I make some verrines and leave them in the fridge, I'll wake up in the morning ready for forage for breakfast and find a beautiful delicious this waiting for me:
It would make you smile, no? It's a great way to start the day feeling tres pampered. Verrines are enticingly easy to make. Just layer ingredients you may have on hand. In one I used a berry gelee topped with vanilla yogurt topped with macerated strawberries and pistachios in a blood orange syrup. Delicious.

I made another verrine this morning to share with my advisor. Yes, we have work meetings on Sunday mornings - doesn't everyone? This one started with yogurt gelee which could use some improvement. Then it was topped by mixed berry compote. Then came the layer that made me think,"I'm a fucking genius.": yogurt mousse made with agar. I think I might finally have gotten the way to use agar to make mousse. Of course it took a half hour of searching on the internet and quite a few people have made mousse with agar so really I guess I'm not so much a genius. Damn.

Verrine #1

Berry Gelee
handful of blueberries
handful of strawberries cut up
handful of raspberries
2 spoons of sugar
1 spoon of lemon juice
1/2 t agar powder

Puree berries. Add berry puree, sugar and lemon juice together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes. Sprinkle in agar and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Pour into bottom of small glasses. Let cool and set up. Pour some vanilla yogurt on top and chill.

Strawberry Mix:
1/2 cup strawberries diced
1/4 cup ground pistachios
2 t sugar

Mix together and let sit. Distribute over yogurt.

Blood Orange Syrup can be found here Drizzle over top of strawberries.


Verrine #2
Layer 1: sweetened yogurt
Layer 2: berry compote (same as berry gelee just without agar added)
Layer 3: yogurt mousse
1/4 c heavy cream
1/4 c powdered sugar
3/4 c yogurt
1/2 t agar
4 T water

Dissolve agar in water in a small pan. Whip yogurt in a bowl until smooth and slightly fluffy. Whip heavy cream to soft peaks. Whip in powdered sugar. Be careful not to overwhip. Boil agar mixture for 3 minutes stirring to dissolve the agar fully. While whisking slowly pour the agar mix into the yogurt. Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream until incorporated. Fold in rest of whipped cream.

Layer 4: fresh sliced strawberries

Here's the yogurt mousse: