Blackberries With Lemon Cream And Toasted Brioche

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• rosemary sprig (2 inches)
• 1/4 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
• 1/4 cup finely grated lemon zest
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (not the bottled stuff!)
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 tablesoon pieces (1 stick)
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut in 2 tablespoon pieces
• 8 slices brioche bread, sliced into 1/2 slices crusts removed
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups blackberries (12 oz)

Recipe

• 1 in a saucepan, simmer the water with 1/2 cup of the sugar, until the sugar is dissolved; add the rosemary and the vanilla bean and seeds and let stand 2 hours.
• 2 meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl, rub the lemon zaest into 1 cup of the sugar; whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.
• 3 set the bowl over a saucepan with simmering water and cook over moderate heat, whisking until thickened, about 6 minutes.
• 4 strain the custard into a food processor; let cool slightly.
• 5 with the processor on, add the butter 1 piece at a time, until fully incorporated before adding more.
• 6 process the cream until doubled in volume, about 3 minuutes.
• 7 scrape the cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
• 8 discard the rosemary and vanilla bean from the syrup; simmer the syrup over moderately low heat until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes; let cool.
• 9 preheat the broiler; arrange the brioche slices on baking sheet and broil for 1 minute, turning once, until golden.
• 10 in a bowl, beat the heavy cream with the remaining 1 t of sugar until softly whipped.
• 11 add the blackberries to the sugar syrup and toss gently.
• 12 spoon the lemon cream onto 8 plates, top with the brioche and dollop of the whipped cream.
• 13 scatter the blackberries on top, serve at once.