Honeyed Words: Introduction to Venusian Inspired Custard

Introduction to Venusian Inspired Custard · 19 April 2007

Picture of Hibiscus Flower Petals

I’m breaking with tradition and introducing the next book by posting about food associated with it instead of posting the review. In Venusia by Mark vonSchlegell the colonists on Venus eat flowers. Every Venusian citizen is provided flowers by the government, at two intervals every T-day (24 hour cycle) in the ritual called “Feed.” Flowers are their sustenance, their religion, and the fleshy veil that enables the Venusians to forget the past and sets the events of the story in motion.

It just so happens that Is My Blog Burning? is hosting a flower oriented event. Not one to let the opportunity to capitalize on this coincidence pass, I decided it was a perfect time to feature Venusia.

The problem is, I’m still not quite sure what my final take on Venusia is. I read the book about a month ago, and at the time I meant to re-read it before blogging about it. It’s the type of book that really needs to be read slowly in order to follow the author’s multi-layered tour through time, space, and the psyche, but in my usual gluttonous consumption of the story, I didn’t give it the time it deserved.

My first impression of Venusia is that it’s a book I really want to like. It has great world building and characterization and propounds a fascinating premise. It’s also incredibly pretentious, and I love a good pretentious science fiction writer, as long as they’re able to transform their pretentiousness into a coherent plot. If anything, the lucidity of the plot is the flaw in the book. I’ll keep you posted as to whether it coalesces under further scrutiny after I've had the chance to go back and revisit some of the trickier parts. In the meantime, enjoy this filling and flower-filled dessert, inspired by David Feys at the Sookie Harbor House in British Columbia.

Picture of Custard

Red Hibiscus Custard with Rose and Pansy Syrup:

Custard:

1 cup whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
6 tablespoons fresh red hibiscus flowers, chopped
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks

Syrup:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 cup mixed rose petals and dark purple pansy petals, loosely packed
Extra rose and pansy petals to garnish

Method - Red Hibiscus Custard:

If you don't have a custard molds, have no fear, I was able to make this recipe without them by substituting small, oven-safe ramekins.

Start this recipe the day before you want to serve it.

Combine milk and cream in a medium bowl and stir to mix. Measure out ½ of this mixture into a small sauce pan, reserving the other half in the bowl. Add the sugar and the hibiscus flowers to the saucepan.

Heat over low heat until almost boiling, stirring constantly to avoid the milk either sticking to the bottom, or forming a film. Remove the mixture from heat and pour into the bowl with the reserved milk and cream. Stir well and set aside to cool.

Once cool, cover and refrigerate over night, if possible. (According to chef Feys, the longer the mixture steeps, the stronger the flower flavor in the custard. I let it sit about six hours and my custard had a very mild hibiscus flavor. If I were to make this again, I’d take his recommendation and let it sit longer).

After refrigerating, preheat oven to 350° F. Make sure that you have your oven rack adjusted so that it’s in the approximate middle of the oven for easy maneuvering later.

Add sufficient hot water to a 9-by-13-inch oven-safe pan with to reach halfway up the sides of custard molds when immersed. This will create a double-boiler effect for cooking the custard. Remember Archimedes and his bathtub, your molds will displace water. What I did to counteract this was to put the empty “molds” in the pan, and then fill it with water up to their halfway point.

Put the water filled pan into the oven.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolk well. Add the chilled milk mixture and stir until combined.

Pour the mixture into six small, dry, custard molds and carefully place the molds in the water filled pan. Cook 25-30 minutes. The custard is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and then carefully remove the custard mold from the pan. Apparently, jar tongs work great for this (I really need a set of these things, it’s the second time in two weeks they would have saved me from slightly singed fingers).

Allow the custard to cool and when cool place in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Immediately before serving, remove custard from refrigerator and from the mold. To remove from the mold, run a thin knife around the circumference of the custard mold and then invert the mold onto a serving plate. Top with syrup (recipe below) and flowers to garnish.

One thing that I didn’t think of trying until after I had cooked these is cooking the custard in the traditional flan style, by coating the mold with warm syrup prior to pouring the custard mix in and using the syrup as a way to keep the custard from sticking to the mold. This probably would have worked out really well, but I sort of like the cratered texture I ended up with on my custard. It reminds me of Venus ;)

Method - Rose and Pansy Syrup:

This can be prepared the night before, or while the custard is cooking and/or cooling.

Place petals and &frac13 cup sugar in a food processor and process until well mixed.

Add petal mixture and the remaining ingredient to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then stir once and reduce heat to low.

Simmer until mixture reaches a syrup stage (I simmered for about 45 minutes, I’m not sure if this is what the intent of the original recipe was, but it took about that long to simmer down to the recommended end volume, and it didn’t seem thick enough until then.

Custard, Edible Flowers, Hibiscus, Pansy, Rose, Vegetarian, Venusia