I don’t know what you’re like, but I get really into certain ingredients or flavour combinations and mess around with them for ages until I have exhausted every possible way of using them or until something else inspires me.
Does this sound even remotely familiar?
Right now, I’m all about liquorice and the various flavours that accompany them… including chocolate, of course!
This new “obsession” was brought on by a recent trip I took to see some of my family in Denmark. They’re all about liquorice in their chocolate in Denmark and I LOVE their passion for this ingredient.
Did you know that flavour pairing is based on the principal that foods combine well with one another when they have similar molecular compounds in common ? This is the basis behind molecular profiling, used most famously by Heston Blumenthal in his restaurant The Fat Duck.
I love this idea and I have been using The Flavour Bible (and the internet) a lot recently to develop new recipes, both sweet and savoury.
I found that the following flavours pair with liquorice, just to name a few…
- Strawberry
- Almond
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Passionfruit
- Chili
- Salt
- Blackcurrant
- Cherry
- Mint
- Coconut
- Lemon
And thus, this recipe was born.
Not only are these Strawberry Liquorice Almonds delicious on their own as a culinary delight, but they’re (obviously) incredible in dark or milk chocolate.
Give them a go and, next time you make a batch of chocolate, make a little batch with these babies in there… I think you’ll love it!
Strawberry Liquorice Almonds
200g ( 2 cups ) almonds, soaked overnight and rinsed
100g ( 1/2 cup ) coconut sugar, powdered
8 drops strawberry medicine flower extract
¼ c freeze dried strawberry powder
½ tsp sea salt
5 drops star anise essential oil
Method
- Blix all ingredients together in a food processor just to break the almonds down and create more surface area for the flavour to rest on them. Should be the consistency of granola or thereabouts.
- Transfer the mix to a teflex lined dehydrator tray and dry for 10 hours at 115, flip onto mesh and continue to dehydrate until crisp, about 10 more hours.
- Store in an air tight jar until ready to use.
