Lemon Posset

I saw this pretty photo somewhere and thought this dessert looked good.  The appearance reminded me a bit of creme brulee which is my all time favourite super rich dessert, not to be eaten more than once a year.

I found out it was called, Lemon Posset...bonus. I love lemon. Curious to find out what "posset" meant and assuming it was some kind of french culinary term, I searched google translate.

Wow...who knew? Posset, means...posset. That got me nowhere.

So I tried another tact, looked up "posset" and "detect language". Google detected Latin. Seriously? So posset is Latin for the word "could".

Posset this possibly be correct? I doubted it.

Further research was required because I hate not knowing stuff, and now I needed a derivation and definition.

I looked up "posset" in dictionary.com. Thankfully, I didn't do this first because I would have given up my quest. I found this meaning, "a drink made of hot milk curdled with ale, wine, or the like, often sweetened and spiced." Sounded very unappealing.

Alas, wikipedia came to my rescue...or did it? Once again, I found the British hot drink with milk and ale description. 

So after looking at the recipe, I decided to create my own definitions.

Posset - n.  A fancy french pudding with lots of sugar. A diabetic nightmare.

                  Alternate  meaning - A decadent  dessert, insanely expensive at a restaurant.

                                      

I actually found the recipe for this dessert to be very simple and very high in calories. It's just one step away from eating from the sugar bowl.  Dare I try it? Tempting.  I'll report back if I do.

Ingredients

2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup sugar   
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
lemon zest from 2 lemons

Directions

Bring whipping cream to a gradual boil for 3 minutes. Combine and boil sugar, zest, and lemon juice. Whisk lemon mixture into cream. Remove from heat and strain out zest before pouring into individual dessert bowls. Let cool then put in fridge to chill until firm. Decorate with fruit or flowers

UPDATE

I made it. It's not so simple. I combined a couple of recipes as I always do and noted changes in "ingredients" and "directions" above. If you don't warm the cream slowly, it gets a strange consistency. Also, I heated the sugar and lemon juice to dissolve sugar. Used only 2/3 cups sugar. Then I whisked the sugar, lemon mixture into the cream. Strained the whole thing to remove zest. Poured into dishes and cooled.  Once cooled, I put it in the fridge to solidify. Decorated.

It tasted pretty good but I likely won't make it again.

The Nutella Plot

Lest there be any question, there are no spoilers for any movies or novels involved in this blog. Nor am I writing about a cemetery location. The title "The Nutella Plot" refers to, among other things, Nutella. You know, that creamy, chocolatey, hazelnut spread that's so popular on crepes, beaver tails, and of course toast. Recently, as you've most likely heard, it has become the target of choice for research studies about palm oil.

I'm not suggesting it's a great substitute for well, almost anything else on bread. After all, the first ingredient is the greatly and deservedly maligned sugar. Sugar...that substance that will give you a flotation device around the centre of your body. Having said that, again, it's like anything else..fine when used occasionally and in moderation. This means, it's not a good option for slathering on and licking off large surfaces. Enough said.

I do think the latest news about Nutella and cancer is a plot. I believe that either the Russians, or Donald Trump, or both are involved. Who knows, it might even have come from a Nutella competitor. There are enough out there, although that's probably less likely than the first two suspects.

Did you know that world Nutella day is coming up on February 5th? I'm not sure what that means exactly, but that's how popular this stuff is. It has its own day.  I have my own day, Hildegard day on September 17th, but I don't suppose anybody really knows, cares, or sees that as much cause for celebration.

Would you believe there was even an Italian stamp sporting a jar of Nutella, issued a few years ago?

Note to self - Check to see if there was ever a Hildegard stamp.

So apparently, according to google, wikipedia, or some other semi reliable source,  Nutella contains 10% palm oil. This is a highly saturated vegetable fat that's potentially cancer causing when oxidized and consumed in massive proportions by rats who are also fed a high fat diet. In other words, it's
lethal for humans who devour daily doses of hamburgers, steaks, and french fries with a Nutella topping. Oh...and too, just to clarify,  it contains 58% sugar. Where's the hysteria about that?

Many processed foods, chocolate bars, ice creams, pizza doughs, cookies and baked goods contain palm oil, as do lipsticks, soaps and shampoos.  So why pick on Nutella?  Palm oil is not a product that has been banned by any food and drug organization.

There's another more relevant palm oil issue here in my opinion. Apparently, its production has caused deforestation and wreaked havoc on animal habitats. It is not produced using sustainable measures particularly in areas such as Malaysia and Indonesia, countries which produce 85% of palm oil. The World Wildlife Fund is certainly concerned, particularly since the equivalent of three hundred football fields of rainforest lands are cleared every hour, thus making way for palm oil production. The orangutan and Sumatran tiger are only two of the species in danger of becoming extinct in the next few years.

So, what to do? Let's stop picking on Nutella for the time being. Rather, let's eliminate use of
palm oil. Let's remove it from products altogether, not for it's "possible" link to cancer, but rather for
the far more reaching consequences. Shouldn't we first be concerned about greenhouse gases and the effects to our environment, deforestation, extinction of animals and rainforests, our climate, and our air?


***Picture of misc. spreads from Google images and the Washington Post

The Challenge of Süssli Technology

Cyclamate and saccharin, a lethal combo or so we're told. I was recently in Germany. There was no sucralose or stevia to be found. Many kinds of sugar, everything from natural, to cubes, to raw, and kandis.  For sweetener, however, I seemed to have one option. This option.

For only a couple of euros, I purchased the container so that I'd have sweetener. I peeled off the blue plastic sealing ring. I tugged, twisted and turned the blue lid. Nothing happened. I was stumped. Despite the fear of splitting my finger nails, I pryed. Still no luck.

I looked at the bottom of the container, imagining some kind of secret. Yes, "Secret", the stick deodorant that you push up from the bottom is what came to mind when I espied some kind of scaffolding underneath the container. Do I push it up? I tried. I pushed. Still no luck.

Push? Push? Could it be? Such a high level of technology on a sweetener cylinder?

I started at square one and tried the obvious. I pressed down on the blue lid. Success! My tea would be tart no more. The tiny tablet popped out of the bottom of the sweetener container. I pressed again, then 3 more times. After all, there were 1200 stück in the container. What could a few or even a few dozen experimental presses matter?

I find it amazing when I think about the mass production and the minimal price of such a thing. I could have pressed the top and watch those little saccharins fall out the bottom all day long. Isn't it great have this much fun with such simple technology? Oh...and yes, I did manage to use a few.