My friend Anne and her honey, Jason, blogged about herbs that taste like fruit several years ago, back when I was only just getting my kitchen-legs, and before I’d been able to grow anything at all and keep it alive for more than a couple of days. I was all kinds of amazed. WHAT? There’s something called pineapple sage? And also lemon basil? Orange Thyme?
Its hard to find these down here in my little old town, BUT I did get some Lemon Thyme yesterday and have been trying it in every way imaginable. I started by garnishing a recipe of boiled custard I made with another of my recent ingredient addictions (buttermilk, obvi) and I have to say, I liked the way combining a typically savory herb with a dessert turned out. See what you think.
This is a small batch of basically a boiled custard recipe (remember, don’t let the buttermilk boil, just like in a regular old boiled custard) but made with buttermilk so you get the great tartness and tang. It would make an AWESOME sauce topping for a cake, or you could serve a big ole bowl of it with fruit this summer. Y’all.
I went with tiny tarts because I’d been needing a bite-sized dessert, for a got a catering gig I’ve got coming up (my first! yaaaaaa!) and I needed to do a taste test. This works. it’s tiny, and refreshing, and just right if someone wants just a taste of something sweet.
But, a note… don’t make these babies in advance. I mean, you can make the custard ahead of time, but wait to bake the little phyllo shells until absolutely the end. Otherwise you’ll end up with soggy, sad sad little tarts. I learned this when the few we didn’t eat immediately sat in the fridge for a a day or so, so yeah. Make this just before serving.
Ok, now that I’ve shared my newfound obessesion (You can expect WAAAAY more Lemon-Thyme recipes in the future) what is YOUR favorite way to use herbs and Fruity-herbs? 
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅛ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg + a yolk of another
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ package of phyllo dough mini shells
- To garnish:
- Strawberries, Lemon Thyme Sprigs and Basil
- Mix together the sugar and flour in a saucepan.
- Add buttermilk and eggs, and stir (whisking is best) until blended.
- Cook on medium heat until it is scalded (Don't let it boil! instead, when it begins to steam you'll know it's ready)
- Whisk the egg yolks so they are lightly scrambled, and temper them with some of the warm buttermilk mixture (Do this by pouring in small amounts of the hot milk into the eggs and stirrings to warm the eggs up before you put them into the pot.) I usually use the same amount of milk as I have egg.
- Combine the hot egg into the milk mixture.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it's thick and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.
- Cover and chill for at least 3 hours so it's completely cool and has set.
- Once your custard is close to cool, bake your phyllo shells according to the package directions. Once they are cooled, spoon custard into them and top with the strawberries, basil, and thyme.
I don?t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I don’t know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!