Warm gratin with blueberries and orange sauce
4 servings
25 minutes
Warm gratin with blueberries and orange sauce is an exquisite dessert embodying the balance of tartness and sweetness, tenderness and freshness. Its roots trace back to European culinary tradition, where airy creamy structures combine with berries and fruit sauces. In this recipe, the creamy base made with lemon juice and sour cream gains a rich flavor, while the lightness of whipped egg whites adds airiness. Blueberries drizzled with hot orange butter fill the dish with vibrant fruity notes, creating a refined blend of aromas. The final touch—a caramelized crust created with a culinary torch—adds textural contrast. This gratin is perfect as a conclusion to an elegant dinner or as a special festive dessert, drawing attention with its unconventional execution and richness of flavor.
1
Separate the whites from the yolks. Mix the yolks with 40 grams of sugar, starch, and whisk well.
- Sugar: 140 g
- Starch: 20 g
2
Squeeze the juice of two lemons — better through a sieve to avoid pulp and seeds. Heat the juice in a saucepan until boiling. Mix with sour cream using a whisk, return to heat, and stir until smooth. When the mixture starts to boil, remove from heat and dissolve gelatin in it. Once dissolved, pour into the sugar-starch mixture, whisk, pour back into the saucepan, and heat until boiling. Cook like custard: whisk continuously over low heat for about four minutes until a thick, puree-like substance forms.
- Lemon: 2 pieces
- Sour cream: 100 g
- Gelatin: 5 g
- Sugar: 140 g
3
Pour 50 grams of sugar into a saucepan, add a teaspoon of water, and cook a thick bubbling syrup.
- Sugar: 140 g
4
Whip the egg whites with a mixer until peaks form. Ideally, the egg whites and syrup should be ready at the same time, so you can pour the syrup into the egg whites while continuing to whip. Keep whipping for another five minutes.
- Chicken egg: 5 piece
5
Now mix the cream with the whipped egg whites until smooth. Line a baking dish with parchment paper, place a 12-15 cm diameter cooking ring on top, fill it with the resulting mixture, and place it in the freezer for about an hour.
- Chicken egg: 5 piece
- Sour cream: 100 g
6
Put the juice of half an orange in a saucepan over heat. Add 50 grams of sugar to the juice, dissolve it, and cook the juice until it turns into syrup. Then, swirling the saucepan, dissolve butter in it.
- Oranges: 1 piece
- Sugar: 140 g
- Butter: 40 g
7
Spread blueberries on a small plate, drizzle with hot orange oil, and top with cold cream. Use a culinary torch on its surface to create brown streaks resembling tree bark.
- Blueberry: 100 g