Thursday, April 25, 2013

Berries with Hibiscus-Infused Whipped Cream


I'm not always great at multitasking.  Okay, if I'm honest, I'm never great at multitasking. But I love to believe I am.

One minute I'm full of hubris about simultaneously doing some laundry, engaging Max in a toddler alphabet game, cooking some dinner, running the ice cream maker, and perhaps slipping in a quick phone call.  And then time passes, and I've forgotten that I was actually doing laundry.  And now it is smelling a bit moldy and the clothes in the dryer are now wrinkled.  I have no idea what letter we are on in our alphabet game, and I've left things in the oven for too long.  Or over-whip the cream, as was the case the first time I made this hibiscus whipped cream.

I've always found it hard to be in the moment, I never feel I'm experiencing things quite right. I can be at the beach, and instead of feeling the coarseness of the sand as I dig my fingers into it or the chilliness of the salt water on my toes, I'm on my phone - absorbed in some reading or writing.  I know I should be doing this whole "mindfulness" thing, but that just doesn't work for me.

So juggling multiple things at once feels natural for me.  Even if I often fail spectacularly at them.  It is that rare, fortuitous occasion in which success happens that keeps me going at this multitasking endeavor.  Plus, I'm stubborn.

But even a stubborn person knows when to let it go.  So this time, I made sure to devote most of my attention to the task at hand.  And instead of playing an alphabet game with the tot, I tried teaching him to say "hibiscus," a rather amusing word coming from him.  And this time, things worked out.     

I would like to say that this will be a permanent change in behavior.  But I can assuredly say that isn't the case.  Because I'm stubborn like that.

Here we used the whipped cream to top some gorgeous blueberries and strawberries that were picked up at the farmer's market.  For more strawberry dessert ideas, Cooking Light put together this slideshow.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
3 tablespoons dried hibiscus leaves
pinch salt
2 tablespoons sugar

strawberries, sliced
blueberries

Instructions
For the hibiscus cream:  In a small pot over low heat, warm 1 cup cream and hibiscus leaves.   Take off heat and cover, letting the leaves steep in the cream for 20 minutes. strain and chill the mixture.  Once the hibiscus cream has chilled and is nice and cold, add the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer and add in another 1/2 cup of whipping cream.  Add a pinch of salt and the sugar and use the whisk attachment to the whip the mixture until stiff peaks form.  Serve with the berries.



15 comments:

  1. What a perfect Spring dessert...you can apparently have your dessert and wear a bikini, too! =)

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  2. I almost always leave my washed & wet laundry in the machine a little bit too long... o_O (Such a hassle, laundry day!)

    These berries, married with hibiscus and whipped cream, sound lovely! Hooray for multitasking desserts.

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  3. Ooh, you had me at the flavored whipped cream!

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. I'm very very intrigued to taste this, especially because dried hibiscus leaves in it! Very unique and pleasant surprise!

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  6. I'm terrible at multi-tasking, too. Something always gets forgotten about or neglected :) This sounds really good and interesting!

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  7. Must be very delicious! A perfectly light dessert.

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    Replies
    1. I love the sound of this. Adding hibiscus to cream is a great way to make it go further.

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  8. Ooops! Sorry must have clicked reply on the above by mistake!

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  9. Oh, this sounds like it would make a perfect spring dessert!

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  10. I think I died, I love hibiscus flavour :D

    Cheers
    CCU

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  11. I am pretty bad about just being in the moment also and need to work on it! Somehow I feel like if I made more simple and delicious desserts like this, I could achieve it. How lovely!

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  12. What a great idea to flavour whipped cream with hibiscus! Yum! Sounds perfect for a berry dessert.

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  13. Zeroin academy Baking Classes in Chennai will give you some of the strategies over the whipping of the cream these would be completely based on the quicker or slower process of whipping of whisking which would vary over the different factors. Sequentially the process of adding up of sugar or flavor would rely over them.

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  14. There is definately a great deal to know about this subject. I like all of the points you've made. hyggee all in one cream

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