As you all know, I'm a fan of life's simple pleasures, and so if it were up to me I'd probably just hand you a spoon and a tub of blackberry and rose geranium sorbet and call time...
...but I'd wager that if you're intending to take over the world, then people will expect you to put in a little more effort. So with that in mind, when it came to plotting the next in my series of "desserts to die for" I decided to up the ante.
Now I was reasonably close to not posting this because, as you'll soon see, the execution is still going to need a bit of work. Conceptually, however, it's the bomb, and so I'm calling first dibs, patent pending.
For months now these white chocolate espresso parfait sandwiches have been on the top of my 'to do' list, but since I'm still rather obsessed with the potentials of rose geranium, I thought I'd offer a slightly different slant. The base was to be hazelnut meringue, and while these did turn out to be reasonably delicious, they are also the subject of future tweaking.
Admittedly, meringues have never been my greatest achievement, and I am in no way assisted by a frustratingly temperamental oven that is disinclined to work at low temperatures. I also tend to forget some of the more vital steps involved, and so for future reference - if you fail to oil the baking paper before spreading a thin sheet of meringue, while some will be recovered relatively unscathed...
...others won't necessarily make the grade.
So although things were already starting to look a little more bastardised-Eton-mess than ice cream sandwich, I stuck to the plan and carried on regardless. A burnt raspberry caramel was prepared...
...as was a subtle yet heavenly rose geranium ice cream...
...and then it was all combined into a rather spectacular sandwich, of sorts.
After a night in the freezer it was time to assess, and ladies and gentlemen, I think we're on to something here...
Technically there's still some work to do, and care must be taken not to overpower the delicate rose geranium with the stunning intensity of the raspberry caramel. But captiousness aside, it was still notably divine and has all the attributes of much-loved classic. It is, afterall, love...