Desert Rose Freeze Recipes

FALOODEH (PERSIAN LIME AND ROSE WATER GRANITA WITH RICE NOODLES)

Steps:

• Place 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and set over low heat. Add about half the sugar and stir to dissolve completely. Add 1/8 teaspoon salt and the rest of the sugar and continue stirring until completely dissolved. Take off the heat and let cool to room temperature.
• In a freezer-safe bowl or dish, stir together 4 cups water, cooled syrup, lime juice and rose water, then place in freezer until ice crystals begin to form on the edges of the mixture, about 1 hour.
• In a medium pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook thoroughly until there is no bite left, about 8 minutes or as instructed on the package. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water. Use scissors to cut noodles into 1-inch pieces, then stir them into the partly frozen syrup mixture. It's important that the mixture has begun to freeze before adding the noodles so that they don't all sink to the bottom of the dish, so if your syrup mixture needs more time, freeze for another hour before adding noodles.
• Every hour for the next several hours, scrape the granita thoroughly with a fork to prevent huge icy chunks from forming. The mixture should be light and airy, punctuated with crunchy noodles.
• To serve, scrape and serve bowlfuls of faloodeh with lime wedges.

PIERRE HERMé'S ISPAHAN SABLéS

Steps:

• To make the sugar: Put the sugar, extract and a few drops of coloring in a small zipper-lock plastic bag, seal the bag and shake until the color is even. Add more color if you'd like.
• To make the sablés: Put the raspberries between sheets of wax paper, and crush them with a rolling pin or the bottom of a skillet. Don't expect perfection - it's fine to have mostly powder and a few small nuggets. Whisk the raspberries into the flour.
• Working with a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until it's soft and creamy, but not airy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, extract and fleur de sel, and beat 3 minutes more. Turn the mixer off, scrape down the bowl, add the flour mixture all at once and pulse the mixer on and off to begin incorporating the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until the dough forms soft curds and then starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Give it a few last turns with a spatula, then scrape it out onto the counter. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, and roll each into an 8-inch-long log.
• Spread the sugar out on a piece of wax paper, and roll the logs in the sugar until they're completely coated. Wrap each log in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
• When you're ready to bake, position the racks to divide the oven into thirds, and preheat it to 325. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Unwrap the logs, trim the ends if they're ragged and cut the logs into ½-inch-thick rounds. Place them on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each round.
• Bake the cookies for 19 to 21 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back after 10 minutes, or until the cookies are firm around the edges and golden brown on the bottom; the tops will remain pale. Rest the sablés for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks. Serve - or pack into a container - when the cookies come to room temperature.