Wild Mint Cream Jelly Flowers (Cooling Deep Forest Magic)
Impossibly delicate faerie flowers are encased in a delicious minty jelly, made from foraged wild mint! These are silky, soothing, and invigorating in a way that soothes the dry sharpness of summer. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
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Are you feeling depleted, overheated, or tense like the mud that has cracked into a powdery arrangement of geometric shapes? Come with me. Let’s go deep into the lush forest. We’ll walk up along the little brook winding its way down the mountain, wild mint growing along its banks and filling our lungs with the essence of the mountain. Further and further we’ll go as the woods get greener, deeper, wetter, until we are in a glade of emeralds with a cool, soft breeze blowing up over the water.
Can you feel your shoulder blades start to loosen? The heaviness on your chest ease? Good. Now let’s sit down on this bed of moss for I have a special gift for you: a magical delicate fairy flower perfectly encased in crystal clear ice at the peak of its blooming. Go ahead, take a bite. This is a creation of the fae after all, so it may not be what it first appears to be. Soft and silky, your mouth will be filled with refreshing wild mint and a hint of cream. You’ll feel an invigorating magic tingle throughout your body as your senses wake up to their full potential, letting in the melody of birdsong and the softness of the breeze on your cheek. Perhaps you’ll hear some bells in the distance, or something that could be a beautiful song, or perhaps just the breeze in the tops of the trees. Rest in this moment of magic. Let this cool dessert replenish you and remind you of the balance that we all need in our lives. Stay in this haven for as long as you need and when you are ready, I will escort you back to your familiar world. But once you return home, remember that your body has been filled with deep forest magic, and that you are so much more resilient to the pressure and heat of summer than you were before.
Okay okay, I know that you’re not supposed to eat fairy food as it can trap you in the land of the Fae, which isn’t always quite so pleasant as it first appears. But in this particular collective daydream, let’s imagine that a kindhearted being of the woods truly means you well and wants to offer you comfort, wonder, and the magic of nature. That is the spirit in which I offer you this recipe, after all. Are you ready to create some cooling summer magic?
Wild Mint Magic Extract:
The first step in creating these lovely desserts is to create the flavoring. We’ll be creating our own wild mint extract that will shine in the finished treats and can be used to flavor many other things, from cocktails to cookies and more! I like to create infusions such as this with intention. It’s best to gather wild mint in the morning, before the heat of the day softens it and dulls the sharp aroma.
Get outside early and spend a few moments sinking into a relaxed state. Know that you have plenty of time and that there is no need to rush. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, picturing that the air entering your lungs is a refreshing verdant shimmer, and that with every exhale you are releasing a little more tension. Breathe like this for a few minutes, or until you feel relaxed and can sense that shimmering magic moving through your body. Now, take your time harvesting mint. You only need a small handful or so, so move along and take a little here, a little there, never too much from one patch. When you have finished, fill a clean jar with the mint and picture it sparkling with the same shimmery magic that you hold within too. Set an intention for what you want your brew to embody, such as “this mint infusion will cool and calm anyone who feels hot and tense.” Then, pour vodka into the jar to cover the mint. Let the jar sit and infuse at room temperature for 5-7 days, then strain. The resulting infused liquid is your mint extract.
Wild Mint Cream Jelly Flowers:
The Jelly flower desserts that are popular in Asia look absolutely incredible, as if delicate flowers were somehow perfectly encased in a clear hemisphere of gelatin. I was surprised to learn that I could make my own beautiful flower jelly cakes with only a few special tools! It can be a little hard to visualize the process of making the petals, so if you would like some guidance, watch the short video I posted on social media or visit this video, which uses straws, or this video, which uses only syringes. I’ve based my recipe on Anne Reardon’s recipe.
An important tip for creating the flowers: It’s very important that the tools you are using are warm and the colored gelatin is too. I filled a mug with boiling water and set my tools in that when I wasn’t using them. You may also need to re-heat individual colored gelatins if they start to thicken or set up. It takes a bit to get the feel for this process (I recommend using one dome just to test out tools on and get some practice) but soon you’ll see that it’s not too hard to make absolutely stunning and refreshing desserts!
You’ll need:
Clear plastic dome containers
Several syringes
Plastic straws or metal tools
A large heat-proof pan
Melon baller
Ingredients for clear gelatin:
4 Tbs. powdered gelatin ( I used this super clear kind, but normal gelatin will work too.)
5 c. cold water
1 ¼ c. sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. Homemade wild mint extract
Ingredients for colored gelatin:
3 tsp. Water
3 tsp. Homemade wild mint extract
Pinch saffron threads
¼ tsp. Butterfly pea powder
¼ tsp. Beetroot powder
2 Tbs. powdered gelatin
⅓ c. water
1 (13.5 - 14oz) jar of sweetened condensed milk
Directions:
First, make the clear gelatin. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered gelatin and 1 cup of the water. Set aside until the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 4 cups of water, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Stir in the gelatin until it has dissolved, then remove from heat and mix in the wild mint extract. Pour this mixture into the clear dome containers. Allow the gelatin to set completely.
Meanwhile, create your colors for the flowers. Set out three small bowls and put 2 tsp. Boiling water and 2 tsp. Mint extract into each. Then add the saffron to one, the butterfly pea powder to another, and the beet powder to the third. Cover and allow to sit and steep for at least 20 minutes. (The longer you steep, the brighter your colors will be!)
Once the clear gelatin has set, make the colored mixtures. Mix together the second measurement of gelatin and ⅓ c. cold water in a small bowl and leave to absorb. After five minutes, transfer it into a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the gelatin has dissolved completely. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and remove from heat.
Divide the sweetened condensed milk mixture into 4-7 small bowls, then place them in the heat-proof pan. Pour boiling water into the pan (being careful not to get any in the mixtures) to keep the gelatin from setting. Now you can color each bowl! Strain the infusions above and use the resulting yellow, red, and blue colors to mix whatever colors you desire.
To make a flower, fill up a syringe with one of the colors. Insert it straight down into the set gelatin and squeeze very gently as you pull it out. You should see a line left to the depth you poked the needle in. Repeat this process several times, changing the angle you insert the syringe at, to create the middle of a flower. You can also make petals with the syringe by gently dragging them across the interior of the set gelatin for about ¼” before removing. Make jagged petals by moving it slightly up and down.
Another way to make petals is with a slushy straw or one of the specialized tools for flower jelly cakes. Use a hot melon baller to scoop out a small amount of the set clear jelly in the middle of the bottom of the dome, then fill it with the flower petal color of choice. Push petal-shaped tip of the straw down through the colored mixture and into the clear part and pull it back out to make a petal. Repeat at different angles to create layers of petals. As you go, you can add a different color to the center to give it more depth. When you are content with your flower, allow it to set in the fridge.
Optional: make a green layer for the base by infusing a pinch of saffron and ½ tsp. Butterfly pea powder in1 c. boiling water. Meanwhile, mix 1 Tbs. gelatin into ¼ c. water and let sit for 5 minutes. Strain the infused water into a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add the gelatin mixture and 2 Tbs. sugar and stir until dissolved. Add 1 tsp. Mint extract and then gently spoon on top of the set flower molds to create a layer ¼” thick.
Gently remove the flower cakes from their molds and serve cold. It’s helpful to have a bowl of hot water and lower the gelatin-filled part of the mold down into it for a few seconds. Then it should tip right out! Serve Immediately.
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Join me for a little winter night magic as we bake this cake full of rich seasonal flavors and black cocoa!