bergamot pink peppercorn + strawberry cake
it tastes like perfume, not really but, kinda
hi hi hello!!
Would you eat a cake if I told you it tasted like perfume? Like, not really but it was heavily inspired by the notes of MALIN + GOETZ strawberry eau de parfum. So in theory, it tastes like perfume. In practice it’s herbaceous, fruity and citrussy.
When my friend pulled up wearing the strawberry eau de parfum inspiration hit. The aroma was fun and flirty. Immediately, I had to have it. Because hottie best friends have matching perfumes. I went to look it up to order and I noticed the top notes of the fragrance: sparkling bergamot, mara strawberry, pink pepper. That’s when the gears really got to turning. Because the scentiment “what grows together goes together” also works for fragrances, “what smells good together tastes good together” (for the most part, also I just made that up).
I get asked all the time, “how do you find flavor inspiration?” A lot of the time the flavor ideas come to me when I’m not even thinking about it. Right, like sniffing the nape of my friends neck *Casual by Chappell Roan starts playing softly in the background* or when picking out the perfect candle. I used to feel really confined to just chocolate and vanilla or caramel and berries being *the* flavors you’re like “allowed” to bake with. While, I love those flavors and a lot of time time those are still the base of my cakes, I crave more flavor!! And there are really no rules when it comes to flavor- imho, if it sounds good to you- TRY IT.
Even if you don’t end up making a cake that tastes like a perfume or candle, I do think this is a fun exercise in creativity for those wanting to expand their flavor horizons. Take the notes of your favorite gourmand scent and just dream up all the ways you’d turn that into a cake or pastry. Where should you add the pink peppercorn? How are you treating the strawberries? Will they be fresh or will you make a jam? What is the flavor star? Because even with the notes of this eau de parfum, I could have dreamt it up a million different ways.
Another cake: bergamot olive oil chiffon filled with strawberry pink peppercorn jam and orange blossom scented bavarian cream finished with vanilla swiss buttercream
As an ice cream scoop: Strawberry pink peppercorn custard base with ripples of bergamot curd, served up with orange blossom macerated berries and a faaaaat dollop of mascarpone whipped cream. OR bergamot sorbet served up with pink peppercorn macerated strawberries and shards of orange blossom meringue.
I could do on but you get the idea. Just this as a chance to have fun and be creative. Maybe one day you’ll actually made the cake you envisioned. But, until then it’s nice to dream.