Juniper Cream Sauce for Waffles or Pancakes
Juniper berries give this sauce an intriguing floral-pine flavor for a more grown-up approach to pancakes or waffles. Check out the Notes section at the bottom for more info on juniper berries, plus tips for success and serving suggestions.
Makes about 3/4 cup
Ingredients
Juniper Cream Sauce reporting for duty at breakfast time! The green needles in the picture are from spruce tips, a foraged food available in this area in spring. Spruce trees grow from the tips of their branches in spring, and those bright green edible tips are tender and citrusy. Along with pine nuts (which are from pinon pine trees), they’re a natural pairing for this sauce since the juniper berries are also harvested from evergreens.
About 12 organic juniper berries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of non-iodized coarse salt (eg, Diamond Crystal, see notes)
1/4 cup heavy cream (see notes)
Toppings of your choice (blueberries, pine nuts and almonds pair nicely with this)
Instructions
1. Use a fork to press the juniper berries against a cutting board to crush them slightly. (This will help release the flavor/aroma - which is on the inside - to infuse into the sauce.)
2. Combine the sugar and salt with 1/4 cup of cold water in a small saucepan. Add the crushed juniper berries and whisk everything together over medium-low heat until the sugar is melted. Stir in the cream and let it come up to temperature for about about 2-3 minutes. Turn the heat to the lowest setting, partially cover the pan and let everything steep together for another 3-4 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil at any time.
3. Strain and discard the solids, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes:
Organic juniper berries in the Adventure Kitchen, ready to infuse themselves into this cream sauce and (dare I say) into your heart.
Ever since we first started carrying our organic juniper berries, I’ve been dreaming of making this sauce. A little sweet (but not too much), with lots of natural charisma. I’m happy to report it turned out to be everything I dreamed of.
Juniper berries have a pleasant, slightly sweet flavor with a piney-floral aroma. In this dish, they add a grown-up sophistication that tempers the typical pancake sweetness. They’re vaguely floral and intriguing, and a really nice way to elevate your waffles or pancakes.
Botanically, juniper berries are actually the cone (not a berry!) from a juniper tree or bush. Good juniper berries should still be fresh enough to be crushed with a fork and just a little elbow grease against a cutting board (as in this recipe). The flavor and aroma are on the inside, so crushing them slightly will help the infusion.
The heavy cream in this recipe is doing two important things, so don’t skip it! For one thing, it adds color and body to the sauce, helping it work a little better as a syrup. But the more important reason is that the juniper aroma molecules (like most aroma molecules) are fat soluble, which means they need the fat in the cream to carry them all the way through to your palate. Without the cream, you may pick up some bitter or astringent notes.
Adding the water to the sugar and crushed juniper berries that will form the basis of the sauce.
Similarly, I’ve specified non-iodized salt here. If you’re used to using table salt (like Morton’s), you may notice the word “iodized” on the label. Iodine has been added to salt for nearly a century to address health problems caused by previously widespread iodine deficiency. A lot of professional cooks turn up their noses at using iodized salt, because the added iodine can impart unwanted flavors. Personally, I wouldn’t normally fuss over such a small thing, but in this recipe there are very few ingredients, and I’m a tad nervous about any trace notes of iodine combining with those juniper berries to produce unwanted off-flavors. In this recipe I used my standby Diamond Crystal kosher salt (with coarse crystals and no iodine).
I’m guessing the salt is another ingredient you might be tempted to skip (especially if it needs a full paragraph+ explainer, amiright? Sheesh!). But don’t skip it! It’s only a pinch, but like the cream, the salt is here to perform some chemical flavor magic for you, assisting the good stuff and muting the rest. Sodium ions suppress bitter and tannic notes, so that all those gorgeous sweet and floral juniper flavors can come out and party.
This sauce will pair nicely with whole grain or multigrain pancakes or waffles as well as the usual white flour approach. Pine nuts work really nicely as a topping, along with blueberries.
The finished Juniper Cream Sauce, sharing the spotlight with some pretty little juniper berries. (Aren’t they cute together?)