Taking Stock of Seasonal Scents
What's in the air? What's in the ground?
Hello from newsletter no. 13. Thank you for taking the time to be here this week, and if it’s your first time here, welcome!
If you’re the kind of soul that loves good commentary, ideas and inspiration concerning the world of baking, including its more esoteric bits and pieces, then you’re in the right place. Here we explore such things with a resourceful approach that aims to champion flavour and wholesome, seasonal ingredients.
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The best baking happens at the intersection of great ingredients, sharp intuition, a little creativity and the engagement of all the senses. Our sense of smell is such a massive part of the baking experience (even when we aren’t the ones baking) that it’s logical to use it to find inspiration for our baking practice.
We’re at a tipping point in the seasons, and the coming months will unfold to be so full of scent, from fresh green and herbaceous to floral and fruity aromas. So it’s the best time to take stock of the wild or cultivated herbs and flowers emerging from the ground and soon blooming in the air wherever you are. A chance to take notes, plan and document so as not to miss what can be fleeting moments in the season.
When I see the Sweet Cicely froth and bounce, I know I need to get ahead and work out all the ways I want to harness what’s to come. Any time now, it will be Cherry Blossom; in a few weeks more, it’ll be Lilac and Elderflower, with Tomato Vine to follow. Interspersed, there’ll be soft herbs, pea shoots, and, eventually, berries. All things that will make your baked goods taste more of exactly where they are baked from, right where you are.
So this week, I wanted to share some notes on the delicate blossoms and herbs coming our way this Spring and Summer, plus ideas on how to capture and harness their unique aroma and a few suggestions for where to use them.
But before we dive into that, let’s take a side step and briefly talk about aroma.
Aroma is the distinctive scent of something. An abstract first impression or a fond memory-provoking interaction with an ingredient. It sparks ideas on what something might taste like and what we could do to harness it, capture, and transcribe it into something tangible to eat.
Identifying the dominant aroma of an ingredient will give the first clue as to how and where you might want to use it, as well as allow you to identify which parts of the ingredient you want to explore; leaves, for example, can have a different dominant aroma to the flower or seed of the plant. As such, you’ll find differing uses and ways of combining them with companion ingredients.
How to make the most of fresh herbs, blossoms and flowers in baking and desserts.
The aromatic compounds in herbs and blossoms are predominantly contained within the leaves. Therefore, they are best used when fresh, as the compounds are volatile and quickly diminish.
Spring and Summer baking and desserts are a perfect canvas for the softest herbs, such as basil, mint and tarragon. Their colour and flavour readily disappear when baking directly with them, and intense heat produces bitter or astringent notes.
For the freshest, most flavourful results, use cold and dry infusions. For example, when making sugar syrup, allow it to cool fully before adding the fresh herbs and leaving it to infuse overnight. Or combine soft herbs with sugar or salt for an infused dusting sugar or finishing salt.