Once the weather turns seriously cold, and seasonal DIY pickings are slim, I keep my curiosity fueled by exploring ingredients new to me. In past years, such focused cooking has led to a February of piment d’Espelette, a March of single-source honeys and an entire winter devoted to California olive oils.
This year, it’s sorghum, a thick, sweet syrup sold across the South, and peppermint oil, an alternative to peppermint extract. Although they couldn’t be more different, these two intriguing flavors are made for do-it-yourself Valentine’s Day sweets.
I’ve been getting to know sorghum, and I’m not the only one. Sorghum seems to be having a moment in the sun, but it’s not new by any stretch of the imagination. The sorghum plant grows across Africa and was carried to the United States on slave ships and planted across the southern part of our country. It is particularly productive, offering grain for a fine flour and a sweet syrup made from its stalks.
North Carolinians have been pouring sorghum syrup over biscuits forever. Once I had sorghum in the pantry, I made plenty of biscuits, but I also learned to add a glug to a marinade for grilled chicken. And when I swapped sorghum for molasses in a cookie recipe, I understood why it’s called a gingersnap. Sorghum makes for a snappy cookie. Molasses wishes it had sorghum’s complexity: that dusky tang, rich sweetness and smooth finish.
It wasn’t until I met sorghum that I discovered my perfect caramel. I’ve made caramels with chilies and chocolate, with honey and with brown sugar; in this caramel, particularly when paired with brown butter, sorghum practically sings “Hallelujah!” This is a caramel worthy of your valentine.
As with sorghum, it has taken me time to get to know peppermint oil. A friend recommended that I try baking with peppermint oil instead of peppermint extract, emphatically stating that the flavor was clean and better and would change my mind about minty chocolate baked goods.
Peppermint oil is pressed from peppermint leaves, and it’s sold at baking supply stores, at natural-foods stores and via online purveyors. The more familiar peppermint extract is made by infusing mint leaves in alcohol and is widely available. The flavor of the oil is clear, bright and fresh, suffusing the food with a minty oomph. The flavor of peppermint extract dulls with cooking as the alcohol burns off. Food made with extract doesn’t hold a candle to the same food made with oil.
I tested the two by making brownies, white chocolate bark and ice cream sauce. I am sold; I will forevermore use peppermint oil instead of extract. Because peppermint oil is meted out in drops, a small bottle of it will last a very long time. Be wary, however; it is strong. Too many drops, and the mint flavor can overwhelm everything (and stay with you for hours, like bad takeout). Start small — a drop or two — then add more only after tasting once the first drops have been fully incorporated.
In just a few minutes, melted chocolate and cream with no more than five drops of peppermint oil transforms into a shiny, rich, dark chocolate sauce ready for spooning over ice cream, drizzling on pound cake and enrobing marshmallows. Pour it into the prettiest jar for gift giving.
Beyond delicious sweets in time for Valentine’s Day, I’m sure these wintertime experiments will find their way into my summer jams. A dab of peppermint will sharpen the naturally tart flavor of strawberry. And I can’t stop thinking about sorghum ice cream over a bubbling peach crisp. I bet it will be a match made in heaven.
Recipes:
Fastest Dark Chocolate Peppermint Sauce
Source: What sorghum and peppermint oil have in common – The Washington Post