This really is a composition of raspberry and you could add a raspberry mousse or parfait, or even both, if you wished. Raspberry marries well with anise hyssop, which is one of the ingredients that helps to colour absinthe. The herb has a wonderful minty flavour with a slight bitterness, so could be used to replace mint or eucalyptus in other recipes. Raspberries work well with burdock, liquorice root and rose so any of these could replace anise hyssop. You could of course use strawberries, plums or blackberries instead of raspberries.
Serves 8
Ingredients
Raspberry Cannelloni
300g raspberry purée
40g powdered isomalt
5g potato flour
1g citric acid powder
Anise Hyssop Cream
5.25g bronze gelatine leaves
400g milk
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
150g caster sugar
50g cornflour
50g anise hyssop
100g unsalted butter
65g double cream, whipped
Raspberry and anise hyssop sorbet
3g bronze gelatine leaves
125g water
125g caster sugar
40g liquid glucose
500g fresh ripe raspberries
25g anise hyssop
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Raspberry purée
150g fresh ripe raspberries
10g caster sugar
Juice of 1/4 lemon
To serve
42 fresh raspberries (freeze 10 of them on a tray)
A punnet of anise hyssop tops
Raspberry cannelloni
Method
Cannelloni
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Place in a small saucepan and bring up to 84°C. Remove from the heat. Using a stencil set on a baking tray lined with a silicone mat, spread the raspberry mixture thinly to make 10 x 4cm rectangles. You want to make 18 rectangles, which will give you2 extra, just in case, as they are brittle (you may have to make them in several batches). Cook in an oven preheated to 120°C/Gas Mark 1/2 for 10-15 minutes, until dry but still a little pliable.As the rectangles are cooked, wrap each around a thin piece of dowelling to create a cannelloni, then leave to cool and crisp up. If you have any mixture left over, create one sheet with it and cook, then cool and break up into irregular shapes. Store the cannelloni and broken shapes in an airtight container until needed.
Anise hyssop cream
Soak the gelatine in cold water for about5 minutes, until soft and pliable. Meanwhile, pour the milk into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Combine the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl and whisk together. Whisk in the hot milk, then return the mixture to the saucepan. Set on a medium heat and cook, stirring all the time, for4-5 minutes, until thick. Add the anise hyssop halfway through. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little, then stir in the butter, bit by bit, until it is all melted and incorporated.Squeeze excess water from the gelatine, then add to the anise hyssop mixture andstir until melted. Transfer to a blender and blend to a smooth purée. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl. Lay a sheet of cling film on the surface of the mixture and leave to cool. When cold, fold in the whipped cream. Keep in a sealed container in the fridge. When needed, beat well, then spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle.
Raspberry and anise hyssop sorbet
Soak the gelatine in cold water for about5 minutes, until soft and pliable. Meanwhile, combine the water, sugar and glucose in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat. Squeeze excess water from the gelatine, then add to the syrup and stir until melted. Leave to cool.Place the raspberries and anise hyssop in a blender with half of the syrup and blend until smooth. Add the remaining syrup and pulse once, then pass through a fine sieve. Add the lemon juice. Pour into an ice cream machine and churn. Keep in a lidded container in the freezer until needed. Remove from the freezer 5 minutes before serving.
Raspberry purée
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pass through a fine chinois. Place in a squeezy bottle and keep in the fridge until needed.
To Serve
Fill the cannelloni with the anise hyssop cream. Place 2 at different angles on each plate, then add 2 small scoops of sorbet. Break up the frozen raspberries and scatter the little bits on the plates. Place 4 fresh raspberries at different positions on each plate. Dot with raspberry purée. Finally, rest some broken raspberry shapes against the cannelloni and dress with a few hyssop tops.