Southern Comfort (31 page)

E
LIMINATING SUGAR
from one’s diet is a trend not likely to catch on here in the South. Historically, sugar cane was an important crop here in Louisiana. When I was a kid, my dad would bring home sacks of sugar cane as treats for us to chew on. And if you think that the suggestion of sweetening one’s already chilled iced tea with a packet of granulated sugar, instead of sweetening before chilling so the sugar melts, couldn’t possibly make a Southern lady curse you out, think again.

Nope, our sweet tooths are here to stay. But sugar isn’t the only crop down here we have to work with for finishing a meal. We have Ponchatoula strawberries, Ruston peaches, a variety of Plaquemines Parish citrus, Mississippi apples, pick-your-own blueberry farms, and a couple of local fig varieties at our fingertips.

Personally, I lean towards tropical fruit like coconut. I always looked forward to my Papaw Jack’s birthday because he insisted on not one, but two coconut desserts every year—coconut cake and coconut cream pie. Slade and I made our own wedding cake that was inspired by the classic Southern coconut-and-citrus holiday dessert, ambrosia. We pulled it together the night before the wedding—layers of rum-soaked cake with pineapple pastry cream, frosted with coconut buttercream and toasted coconut, and finished off with candied citrus and cherries from Fauchon. Word traveled fast through our small group of guests that we made the cake, and I was approached every few minutes about cutting the cake already. I gave up and cut the cake early. Down South, dessert just can’t wait.

In a bowl of ice water, soak the gelatin sheets until soft, about 3 minutes.

Combine the muscadine wine, simple syrup, and salt in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until it is steaming, but not boiling. Remove from the heat.

Remove the gelatin sheets from the ice water and squeeze them until all of the water is extracted. Place the gelatin in the muscadine wine mixture and stir until the gelatin is just dissolved. Divide the mixture equally among your serving dishes, we use 8-ounce soup bowls and refrigerate on a completely flat surface until set, about 8 hours.

Right before you’re ready to serve the dish, whip the cream on medium-high speed in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, until soft peaks begin to form. Add the confectioners’ sugar and continue whipping until the mixture stands in stiff peaks when you lift the whisk from the bowl, being careful not to overwhip the cream.

To assemble the dish, place three slices of kiwi and three slices of mango on each gelée. Top each gelée with a spoonful of whipped cream and a few strands of mint.

Note:
Muscadine is a sweet wine made with Southern muscadine grapes. A sweet Riesling will substitute if you can’t find muscadine.