Wild Fennel Flowers

Wild Fennel Flowers

Hand-harvested on our land and dried within a few hours. Grown organically.

30gr

Uses:

- Boil water and let them infuse for a few minutes for a digestive herbal tea
- Use them in baking and cooking
- Use them to craft liqueur and artisanal beverages
- Experiment using Trang's recipe (below)

VANILLA POACHED PEARS & FENNEL FLOWER SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

Poached pears:
2 Conference pears
Enough water to cover the pears in a small pan
120–150g sugar, to taste
1 vanilla bean
1 pinch salt

Fennel flower sauce:
7–10 clusters Terrafranta dried fennel flower
300g oat milk (Barista edition), or other fatty milk
24–30g sugar
10–12g cornstarch
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
1 pinch salt

Fennel seed & walnut crunch:
25g sugar
22g water
10g fennel seeds
10g walnuts, broken into very small pieces

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and set aside.
2. Peel the pears and immediately place them in a pot of water to prevent browning.
3. Make sure the water fully covers the pears. Add the sugar, the emptied vanilla stalks, and half of the scraped seeds. Cover the pot with cut parchment paper.
4. Bring the pot to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once it starts bubbling vigorously, reduce to a gentle simmer and poach the pears for 30–45 minutes, depending on size.
5. When the pears are done, leave them in the poaching liquid. Let the pot cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours). Keep refrigerated until use.
6. To make the sauce, place a few clusters of fennel flowers into a jar that can hold 300g of milk with space above. (You can test the volume with plain water first.)
7. Warm the milk to 65–70°C. Important: do not overboil, as this can affect the texture of the final sauce. This applies to both animal and plant milks.
8. Pour the warm milk over the fennel flowers, close the jar, and let it cool enough to refrigerate. Infuse overnight (or at least 8 hours). This can be done in parallel with poaching the pears.
9. After infusion, strain the milk into a pot. Take a small amount and mix with the cornstarch in a separate bowl until smooth, then return it to the main mixture.
10. Place the pot over medium heat and cook while stirring constantly to prevent clumping.
11. Add sugar gradually while stirring and cook gently until the sauce thickens. Lower the heat if necessary to avoid burning.
12. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining vanilla seeds. Pour into a jar, let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours). Keep refrigerated until use.
13. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
14. To make the fennel & walnut crunch, combine sugar and water in a small pan. Cook until large bubbles form but before browning (2–3 minutes). Watch carefully to prevent burning. Add fennel seeds and walnut pieces. Stir vigorously with chopsticks or a small wooden spoon as the sugar crystallizes. When it looks dry, remove from heat and stir briefly. Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and let cool. Once cooled, break into smaller pieces or leave chunky. Store in an airtight container until use.
15. To assemble, cut the pears as desired. I prefer cutting each pear into quarters lengthwise, then making a diagonal cut in each quarter. Pour about two tablespoons of fennel sauce (per quarter of pear) into small shallow bowls. Place the pear pieces on top and sprinkle with fennel & walnut crunch. Serve.