‘This is one of The Pig classics that we’ve had on numerous menus since we started.' says Lex, who is our Princess of Puds and has been with us since day one. You can use any kind of mint – we grow about 20 different varieties in our kitchen gardens, from banana mint, ginger mint and apple mint to Swiss mint, Egyptian mint and Moroccan mint – but if you can track down some chocolate peppermint or garden mint, their flavours work particularly well.
Try it as a palate-cleanser after a really good barbecue in the summer – it’s lovely with a dollop of bitter chocolate ice cream if you’ve gone a bit heavy on the mains.
Lex's Garden Mint Mousse
Serves 6–8
• 3 gelatine leaves (these give a better result than powdered gelatine)
• 180ml (6fl oz) milk, full or semi-skimmed
• 80g (2¾oz) sugar
• 70g (2½oz) fresh mint, thoroughly cleaned
• 400ml (14fl oz) double cream, lightly whipped
• 1 teaspoon crème de menthe for colour (optional)
Fill a jug with cold water, add the gelatine and set aside to soften.
Gently heat the milk and sugar in a heavy-based pan until the sugar has dissolved. Add the mint to the hot milk, then cover with clingfilm and leave to infuse for 5 minutes.
While the milk is still warm, add the softened gelatine and stir it into the milk to dissolve. Cover again and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, whip the cream with the crème de menthe, to soft peaks. You don’t want it to be too stiff.
Grab a fine sieve and pass the minty milk through it. If you have a muslin cloth, that would be perfect as it’ll catch any little bits of unmelted gelatine.
Stir 2 tablespoons of the whipped cream into the milk, then slowly add the resulting mixture to the rest of the cream.
Pour into individual metal moulds and chill for at least 5 hours.
For more recipes, how-tos and tips why not pick up a copy of THE PIG Book: Tales and Recipes from the Kitchen Garden and Beyond.
