Forest cuisine: Spruce needle parfait recipe

From spruce to a festive plate: a unique dessert from Salzburgerland

Discover the wintry side of spruce and get my delicious recipe. I'll show you how you can conjure up a special dessert for your Christmas menu using spruce needle powder: Spruce needle parfait. A wonderfully aromatic recipe that adds a fine, woody flavour to the festive table. I also reveal exciting background information on the culinary and cultural significance of spruce.

From the May tree to the winter needle

The spruce is particularly popular in the spring - the young ‘Maiwipferl’ are then processed into all kinds of delicious things, for example jelly, flavoured honey or liqueur. Many of you know this! The joy of experimentation has recently picked up speed once again due to the increasing interest in wild plants and so the young spruce shoots are finding their way into the kitchen in a variety of ways, for example as an ingredient for smoothies, savoury or sweet chocolates and much more.

The ‘winter may’

We are all familiar with the term ‘May’, which is derived from the month of May and refers to branches or small trees in sap flow. Spruce trees are categorised as evergreens - these have also played a role in winter customs for ages. Evergreen branches are called ‘winter mums’ in reference to the ‘May’ and, as evergreen winter decorations, are the forerunners of Christmas trees, so to speak. In many cultures, evergreens played a role in winter - branches, trees, wreaths and garlands symbolised vitality and eternal life (the cycle of life - also to be found in the annual cycle). Evergreens were considered special because they managed to defy the harsh winter with their power of survival. They were therefore believed to be able to protect against and ward off evil. In folk medicine, spruce is also a traditional remedy for respiratory diseases, and the resin is also used for strengthening and germ-killing incense, as well as for circulation-promoting, pain-relieving and wound-healing medicinal oils and wound, healing and traction ointments. The branches also provided people with vitamin C during the deprived winter months and helped to prevent scurvy. Did you know that in the past, all kinds of trees were also used to make flour for baking?

Christmas tree

The putting up of Christmas trees probably began in the early 16th century. From the 19th century onwards, the custom spread from German-speaking countries to the whole world and was initially reserved for the middle classes, while the poorer population continued to use branches, and later spruce rather than fir trees, which were easier to obtain.

Today, most Christmas trees are firs, the advantage of firs is that they do not lose their needles in the room as easily as spruces. Spruce needles are arranged in a whorled pattern and sit on small cushions. As soon as they dry, they trickle off. However, we make use of this in our spruce needle parfait - the tart, woody flavour is really good and gives the festive meal a Christmassy touch. We make a spruce needle powder for this.

Making spruce needle powder

Collect the twigs (cut off the lower part of the spruce or, even better, take them from freshly felled spruce trees or collect twigs that have been broken off by the wind) - I now put them loosely into a linen bag and hang it up in a warm, airy place. The needles can now trickle off and be poured out of the bag after removing the bare twigs.

Now the needles are pulverised in a high-performance blender. The fibre remains (see photo), which is why I sieve the powder through a mesh sieve and repeat the process (blending, sieving).

I give the fibre back to nature and our garden, and put the bright green powder (see photo) to one side for the parfait. If you like, you can also use pine needles for the powder - just make sure that it really is an edible conifer and not the very poisonous yew >> identification features in my blog post on this.

Spruce needle parfait - a touch of winter forest for your festive table

The freshly made spruce needle powder brings a special, tart, woody flavour to your dessert. Combined with creamy whipped cream, fine vanilla and fruity orange zest, the result is a parfait that is guaranteed to enchant your guests and is perfect for the festive season.

Here is the recipe for the delicious spruce needle parfait:

Ingredients:

•     500 ml whipped cream
•     120 g icing sugar
•     4 egg yolks
•     Zest of 2 oranges
•     2 dashes of lemon juice
•     4 tsp spruce needle powder
•     pulp of 4 vanilla pods
•     4 ground cardamom pods
•     1 small pinch of salt
•     Spruce needle powder and pomegranate for decoration
•     Also: A loaf tin

Preparation - this is how it's done:

•     Grease the loaf tin and line with cling film.
•     Whip the cream until stiff and set aside.
•     Beat the egg yolks and icing sugar in a mixer until pale yellow and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla pulp, cardamom, spruce needle powder, orange zest, lemon juice and a tiny pinch of salt.
•     Now gently fold in the whipped cream until everything is evenly mixed.
•     Spread the mixture into the prepared tin and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
•     To serve, first prepare the plates, then cut open the parfait and serve (it melts quickly) - if it is too hard, leave to thaw briefly.

Even more ideas with spruce

You can find more great ideas with spruce here in the Puch magazine in my Christmas articles from previous years. The Raunächte are also coming up and spruce is a wonderful incense to burn. In the article Smoking during Advent with recipe ideas, spruce is part of the ‘House and Farm Incense Mixture’ as well as the incense chocolates and incense balls. In the article 6 Fine gifts from nature you will find a delicious forest croissant recipe - you can also use your spruce needle powder for this.

Have fun recreating, enjoying and discovering the special flavours of the winter forest! May this parfait enrich your festive table and be a little highlight for the holidays. I wish you reflective and enjoyable hours with your loved ones, a blessed Christmas and a good start to the New Year.

Sincerely, Silja, the wild carrot.

Here we go to Puch near Hallein in Salzburgerland: