Love like salt

I love you father,” said the princess, adding, “As much as I love a pinch of salt.” Sadly, after her confession, the princess from a famous fable was banished from the kingdom. But before the most loved daughter of the King left, she made sure that no salt would be added to her father’s food. It was only after he tasted food without salt that he realised how deep his daughter’s love for him was. I read this story several years ago when I was still in school, and connected with the Princess instantly. Can you not see how much she loved her father? Can you live without salt? No doubt, too much salt can be detrimental to your health but so can an excess of sugary treats. But imagine a balance of both the flavours delicately coating your mouth... that’s what it feels like to have a dessert with salt in it.

I’ve been a little skeptical about mixing salt in desserts until chocolate with salt changed the way I looked at things. I went on to taste the salted banoffee pie which happens to be one of my favourites, and was gently surprised. The salt added texture and brought out a side of the banoffee pie that would otherwise be lost. During a chance conversation with Francis Fernandes, Sous Chef — Pastry, from ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad, recently, he said, “Salt and desserts sound like a mismatched couple, but they are anything but that. We need to get away from the misconception that when salt is added to a dessert, it makes it salty. Salt adds another dimension to food. For instance, caramel leaves a very heavy, buttery feeling in your mouth, but when you add salt to it, that feeling is not there. Salt simply changes the taste profile of the food.”

But don’t go around sprinkling salt on everything you see. “The best things to pair salt with are caramel, chocolate, peanut butter or any of the berries when you’re making a jam or compote for a topping. The salt cuts through the sweetness and is what you really need,” explained Francis. So if you’re a salt-dessert virgin, here are two delightful recipes to prepare. While you take life with a pinch of salt, you could perhaps add a little into your dessert too!

Crunchy peanut and salted caramel
Ingredients
Éclair
150 ml water
75 gm unsalted butter
100 gm flour
2 gm salt
3 eggs

Crunch
90 gm brown sugar
60 gm flour
30 gm cocoa powder
75 gm unsalted butter

Salted peanut caramel ganache
330 gm sugar
165 gm unsalted butter
233 gm cream
233 gms
2 gm sea salt
200 gm peanut butter

Method:
For the éclair
Boil water along with butter and salt. Add in the flour and cook the mixture till it begins to leave the side of the vessel. Remove from flame. Whisk the mixture till it cools down. Slowly add in the eggs one at a time to create a smooth and fluffy mixture. Pipe this mixture in the form of fingers measuring approximately 4 inches. For the crunch combine brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder and butter to form soft dough. Roll out this dough with a rolling pin on a plastic sheet and freeze. Cut out crunch sheet in such a way that when placed over the piped éclair it would coat it completely. Bake the piped éclairs at 180 degree Celsius for 20 mins

For the salted peanut caramel ganache
Cook sugar till caramel stage. Deglaze the pan with cream. Once mixture cools down, using a blender, blend in the softened butter, peanut butter and sea salt.

Assembly
Slice the éclair into half, length wise. Using a piping bag pipe the salted peanut caramel ganache between the éclair to sandwich it. As a variation, salted peanuts can also be added in between the éclair along with the ganache.

Salted banoffee
Ingredients
Salted toffee caramel
100 gm unsalted butter
100 gm caster sugar
400 gm condensed milk
15 gm sea salt

For the banoffee pie
150 gm digestive biscuits
50 gm unsalted butter, melted
3 bananas
250 ml whipped cream
5 gm cinnamon powder
Cocoa powder for dusting

Salted banoffee
Method
For the caramel, place the butter and sugar into a non-stick pan over a low heat, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Add the condensed milk and slowly bring to the boil, stirring continuously, to make the caramel. As soon as the mixture thickens and begins to smell of caramel, remove from the heat and allow cooling and adding sea salt. Place the crushed biscuits and butter and mix well. Slice the bananas and sprinkle cinnamon powder on it. Whisk the whipped cream to soft peaks. Add a tablespoon full of salted toffee caramel to it and mix well.

Assembly
Take a glass and add the biscuit crumb mixture at the bottom. Pipe a little of the salted toffee caramel onto it. Place the sliced bananas on it. Top this with the whipped cream mixture. Finally, lightly dust cocoa powder on the cream.