LCBO Food and Drink Early Summer 2016

SWEET & Simple

RECIPES BY AMY ROSEN • COPY BY JAMES CHATTO • PHOTOGRAPHY BY VINCE NOGUCHI

Marrying the luxury of after-dinner drinks with the pleasures of dessert, these light hybrids are a snap to make and a joy to taste on a hot summer’s day.

   “With more strongly flavoured liqueurs, such as sambuca,” says Amy, “less is more. A small but surprising hit is all that’s needed, such as soaking dried fruit that goes into a bigger recipe. Little bite, big impact.” Use subtler products in a context that won’t over- whelm them. “Elderflower in a whipped cream is just a whisper on a cloud,” she ex- plains. And look for an appropriate liqueur to boost a flavour in the dessert—limoncello if there’s lemon in the recipe, Domaine de Canton to enhance ginger.

USING LIqUEURS AT DESSERT TIME can be as simple as tipping a shot of Kahlúa over vanilla ice cream, but things quickly get more complicated. Liqueurs are very sweet so you’ll need to cut the amount of sugar in a recipe to compensate, but that can cause other, textural problems. The so- lution is to ask an expert like Amy Rosen to figure it all out for you. We presented her with five first-class liqueurs and asked her to create delectable desserts with them and also to share some tips.

FOOD & DRI NK EARLY SUMMER