I am not good at baking, which is why I generally don’t make desserts or any sweets. You would think that, being an analyst, I’d be accurate with something as basic as baking but somehow I’m not. To prove my point, last year, on the week of Julia Child’s birthday, I decided to make her chocolate cake, Reine de Saba. After all, Chris’ birthday was on the same week and I relished the opportunity to make something I loved (chocolate), stick a candle in it and give it to my husband.
Oh the humiliation… I still groan thinking about it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I forgot to add the flour to the cake 15 minutes into baking it in the oven. Too little, too late. A few expletives escaped. My butter laden, flour-less cake turned into a humble brownie too rich to be eaten.
It hasn’t hardened my heart at cooking in general. I’m determined to improve my dessert assembly abilities (because I am just terrible about measuring; every ounce of me rebels against measurements when it comes to cooking). With the surplus of grapes I suddenly inherited from Mom a dessert terrine was in order. In addition, a dear friend gave me a bottle of Prosecco for Christmas that I’d been meaning to use (and drink). Sorry, this would be a no-no on my usual days of practicing “temple” but hey, I gotta live a few days out of the 365 that I spend watching my figure.
NOTE: My recipe was based on this recipe. I used Prosecco but the healthiest option is to use water.
Strawberry & Grape Terrine
Yields 8 – 10 servings.
2 cups strawberries, trimmed & sliced
2 cups green grapes, halved
2 ¾ tsp of unflavoured gelatin
2 cups of Prosecco (or water)
¼ cup of sugar (or 2 tbsp honey)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
Low fat yogurt or frozen yogurt (optional)
Arrange fruit in a 5” x 9” loaf pan.
Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup of Prosecco and let stand 1 minute to soften. Bring 1 cup Prosecco to a boil with sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until dissolved. Stir in remaining 3/4 cup Prosecco and lemon juice. Transfer to a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water. Cool mixture, stirring occasionally, just to room temperature. Slowly pour mixture over fruit then chill covered until firm (at least 6 hours).
To remove pan, dip the pan in a larger pan of hot water 3 to 5 seconds to loosen. Invert a serving plate over terrine and invert terrine onto plate. Slice into ½” thick pieces and serve with a dollop of low fat yogurt or frozen yogurt.
