How to create desserts from aromas: four examples by Jesús Escalera

It’s clear that aromas are a very useful tool in gastronomy. But Jesús Escalera, in his book Essence, makes it clear that they not only act as flavor enhancers, but also serve as a starting point for generating new creative paths.

What happens if aroma becomes the basis for creating flavor combinations with ice cream as the central element?

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Four  Ingredients from Four Different Aromatic Families

Escalera classifies and breaks down a total of ten aromatic families in Essence: green, floral, refreshing, pastry, woody, warm, roasted, animal, chemical, and unpleasant.

Below, we choose four ingredients from four different aromatic families (roasted, refreshing, floral, and green) to better understand the chef’s creative method for experimenting with surprising flavor combinations.

Roasted Aroma: Salted Caramel

Salted caramel combines sweet, bitter, and salty notes. It is obtained by heating sugar and adding salt along with cream or butter, resulting in aromatic notes of caramelization, toast, milk, vanilla, and a hint of almond. Its smooth and creamy texture provides a pleasant warming sensation in the mouth.

Thanks to this aromatic profile, it pairs perfectly with other dairy ingredients and honeyed fruits such as banana, red apple, or figs; also with vanilla-flavored ingredients like black olives or bourbon, as well as with ingredients from the pastry, warm, and roasted aromatic ranges. 

Using this ingredient, Jesús Escalera suggests a sandwich filled with salted caramel ice cream, almond shortbread cookies, creamy vanilla toffee, and a chocolate coating.

Recommended toppings

• Sandwich sablé
• Dark chocolate coating
• Dark chocolate crisps
• Cacao nibs
• Aerated toasted sesame gianduja

Refreshing aroma: Mandarin and carrot

The combination of mandarin and carrot creates a fresh balance of flavors that complement each other naturally. Escalera demonstrates this with a mandarin and carrot semisorbet, in which he specifically uses the mandarin peel, as it concentrates the fruit’s greatest aromatic intensity.

While the pulp is sweet, very floral and citrusy, the peel is bitter, with much more citrusy, herbal, floral, and slightly resinous notes. For its part, the raw carrot offers its herbal profile with a light citrus nuance

Recommended toppings

• Dehydrated Yogurt Meringues
• Basil, Lemon Verbena, or Mint Leaves
• Plain Yogurt
• Candied Ginger
• Frosted Toasted Honey Drops
• Chamomile Jelly
• Effervescent Fruit Tablets

Floral Aroma: Pink Peppercorn

Pink peppercorn is the fruit of a shrub of the Schinus molle variety, native to Central and South America. Its aromatic profile is dominated by a red floral aroma, combined with refreshing (citrus) and warm (balsamic and spicy) notes, making it a very versatile spice for both sweet and savory dishes. An elegant spicy nuance is released when the peppercorn is crushed.

Pink peppercorns harmonize with ingredients from the floral aroma family (honey, melon, white tea, blackcurrant) but especially with red florals (peach, roses, strawberries, raspberries). They also pair well with refreshing ingredients, particularly citrus fruits (grapefruit, orange, lemon verbena, mango, coriander seeds), as well as with pastry ingredients (white chocolate, dairy products such as fresh cheeses, cream, or yogurt).

One dessert that could be made with this fruit is Strawberries, Yogurt, and Spices. It combines ingredients that share the red floral aroma of pink peppercorns, such as strawberries and roses. Its balsamic and spicy nuances are used to incorporate a spiced sponge cake, while the dish is finished at the table with unique yogurt “popcorn” made with liquid nitrogen.

Recommended toppings

• Stewed Strawberries
• Meringue Sticks with Freeze-Dried Strawberries
• Fresh Raspberries
• Crystallized Hibiscus Flower
• Candied Lemon Peel
• Raspberries with Mannitol
• Frosted Rose Petals

Green Aroma: Green Apple

With its characteristic acidity and smooth, crisp texture, the green apple is known for providing a refreshing and invigorating sensation with every bite. Its fragrance is unique, with pronounced herbal notes that evoke the vitality of green aromas. In the Granny Smith variety, we also find a citrus aromatic profile, responsible for its refreshing and natural touch. For this reason, they pair well with teas, basil, fennel, quinoa, white wines, or sake, as well as with cardamom, soursop, or lime, among others.

As a suggested dessert, we find Frozen Spring, where Escalera uses a range of green aromas, among which we highlight herbal and vegetal notes such as celery or pea. The apple and lemon verbena act as an aromatic bridge between the aforementioned herbs and citrus fruits like lime and soursop.

Recommended toppings

• Dill-infused apple
• Candied lemon peel
• Fresh green apple
• Dill
• Dehydrated basil meringues
• Sake jelly

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