Sea Buckthorn Posset with Salted Butter Shortbread

Taste

A posset is an old English dessert with only three ingredients: cream boiled with sugar, then set by fruit acid as it cools, with no eggs or gelatine. Lemon is the usual acid, but sea buckthorn, a small orange berry harvested in the Centre-du-Québec by Les Cueilleurs de Tingwick, does the same job and turns the cream a deep apricot colour. On its own the fruit is very sour and slightly bitter, with a tropical edge that reminds many people of passion fruit or pineapple. Boiled with sugar and St-Père cream from Laiterie des trois vallées, it becomes silky and sweet-tart. Crisp salted butter shortbread on the side gives you something to scoop with.

Plan ahead: The frozen berries need to thaw first, overnight in the fridge or for about an hour on the counter, and the possets need at least 4 hours in the fridge to set. The shortbread can bake while they chill.

Instructions

1. Thaw and press the sea buckthorn. Thaw the berries in a bowl, in the fridge overnight or on the counter for about an hour. Set aside 12 of the best-looking berries for the top. Tip the rest into a fine sieve set over a bowl and press them through with the back of a ladle, scraping the purée off the underside of the sieve now and then. Throw away the skins and seeds. Measure out 100 ml (just under ½ cup) of purée. If you’re a little short, make up the difference with extra lemon juice.

2. Boil the cream. Put the cream and the 125 g of sugar in a saucepan that holds at least three times their volume. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then lower the heat and keep it at a steady simmer for 3 minutes, watching that it doesn’t boil over. This boil is part of what lets the posset set, so don’t cut it short. ⏱︎ 3 min

3. Add the fruit. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the sea buckthorn purée and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The cream will thicken slightly straight away. Let it stand for 10 minutes. ⏱︎ 10 min

4. Strain, pour, and chill. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug, then divide it between six small glasses or ramekins that hold about 125 ml each. Leave them to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

5. Make the shortbread dough. Line a 20 cm (8 inch) square pan with parchment paper. Beat the softened butter and the 55 g of sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and mix until the dough just comes together; it looks crumbly at first. Press it into the pan in an even layer, prick it all over with a fork, and chill for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 160 °C (325 °F). ⏱︎ 15 min

6. Bake the shortbread. Bake until pale golden all over and slightly darker at the edges, 30–35 minutes. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle it with the remaining tablespoon of sugar and cut it into 18 fingers with a sharp knife: cut it into 3 strips one way and 6 the other. Let it cool completely in the pan, where it crisps as it cools. ⏱︎ 35 min

7. Serve. Top each posset with 2 of the reserved berries and serve cold, with shortbread fingers on the side.

Tips

• Make ahead: The possets keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add the berries just before serving. The shortbread keeps for a week in an airtight tin.
• Setting: Sea buckthorn varies in sharpness from one harvest to the next, so the possets are sometimes still soft after 4 hours. They firm up overnight.
• Lemon posset: Without sea buckthorn, use 90 ml (6 tablespoons) of lemon juice in place of the purée and lemon juice for the classic version.
• Leftover purée: Any extra sea buckthorn purée keeps for 3 days in the fridge. Stir it into yogurt with a little honey, or top it up with sparkling water for a drink.
• Lemony shortbread: Zest the lemon before you juice it, and beat the zest into the butter and sugar before adding the flour.