I'm one of those people who can't say "no" to dessert under any circumstances, so when I'm waddling away from the BBQ buffet, stuffed to the gills with ribs, or burgers, or whatever else I just devoured, I'm not exactly in the mood for a heavy finish to the meal. The combination of fresh fruit with simple chamomile scented whipped cream plus a little crunchy toffee is ethereally light, and pure heaven on a hot day. If you don't want to bother with chamomile, just switch in a bit of vanilla extract in the cream instead. Enjoy!
FRUIT + CHAMOMILE WHIPPED CREAM WITH TOFFEE CRUNCH
INGREDIENTS
[NOTE] For 4
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons chamomile flowers (optional)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons chamomile syrup (recipe below)
4 small white peaches (or literally any fruit you like)
DIRECTIONS
First make the toffee crunch. Pour the sugar into a clean, dry medium sauce pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring only every so often with a wooden spoon, until the sugar melts and turns a dark amber color, at 300F. Immediately pour the caramelized sugar onto a greased rimmed baking sheet. To grease, I just sprayed the baking sheet with a bit of canola oil. Sprinkle the still hot caramelized sugar with chamomile flowers, if using. Let the caramelized sugar cool completely, it should become brittle. Once cool and brittle, breake the toffee into large pieces, put them in a plastic bag, and bash the bag until finer shards form. Set aside.
Combine the heavy whipping cream and chamomile syrup, and whip until soft peaks form. Slice up fruit, spoon chamomile cream over it, and sprinkle with toffee. Go to town!
INGREDIENTS (CHAMOMILE SYRUP)
2 tablespoons chamomile flowers (or tea)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
DIRECTIONS
To make the Chamomile Syrup, combine the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Cook until the sugar is fully dissolved and the syrup is just boiling. Turn off the heat and let the syrup sit for 30 minutes. Strain the syrup into a jar and keep in the fridge for up to a month.
For more recipes like this one, check out my blog The Kitchy Kitchen.