Peel Power
Apple, Pomegranate + Fresh Fennel Seeds
I originally started writing this recipe last November while on a trip to the South of France…Back then, one of the hiking trails I visited with my friend was filled with wild fennel in flower and seed, and I couldn’t help but nibble the harvest throughout our nature walk.
Fresh fennel seeds and pollen have an intense magnification in flavor compared to the dried seeds and this was my original inspiration. Sweetness, fragrance, and a distinctive licorice taste are unmistakable imprints from the fresh seeds. It’s hard not to compare them to the flavor of black licorice, which had me thinking…
Maybe I could create an alternative to licorice candy?
Why would that thought enter my head?
Well a client of mine loves licorice wheels, a lot, and was using the candy as a daily medicinal treat to help with constipation. I wanted to create a healthier alternative that offered the digestive support, the same familiar chewiness and flavor but without the licorice which was contraindicated as they have high blood pressure and without the gluten, which the brand he was eating also contained.
I decided to create a fennel flavored extra chewy fruit leather as an alternate client offering!
Pomegranate, apple and lemon were my fruits of choice, plus a small amount of hawthorn berries. The pith, and peel of pomegranate and lemon and also the apple peel and hawthorn berries are rich in pectin which is not only abundant in fiber and thus great for constipation relief but also useful to create a gelatin free gummy that I hoped would mimic the texture of the black licorice wheel.
Making Pectin
Breaking down the pectin from vegetable or fruit peels takes time, but overcooking the fruit breaks down the vitamin C and antioxidant content. I tried a few different methods, from making pomegranate pectin by dehydrating, powdering and simmering the peel (pictured below), to cooking the whole chopped fruits for 2 hours and producing a similar result. All good food science experiments, but also quite labor intensive and with different levels of success from a flavor perspective. (The pomegranate pectin was mouth puckeringly astringent and bitter, so that version was pushed aside).
The recipe I ended up creating maximized the pectin production without compromising the nutrients in the fruit, or the flavor from the fennel seeds and once the puree had been sweetened and created into the appropriate wheel shape, I’m happy to report that the delight on my client’s face was reward enough for my efforts…I got a thumb’s up for taste, texture, and function. It’s the little things:) See the full recipe below and the resulting mini faux licorice wheels at the end of this post.
Faux Licorice Recipe
1 organic apple…Peeled, cored and chopped. (Save the peel)
Half a juiced organic lemon (Save the peel, pith and any seeds)
1/2 a whole organic pomegranate. (Save the peel and pith)
1/2 tablespoon powdered cinnamon
4 cups of filtered water
20g freshly harvested fennel seed or 10g of organic dried fennel seed
2 teaspoons of organic/wild hawthorn berries, dried or fresh, depending on the time of year.
Honey or Sugar to taste, (See below for more information)
Method
Add the peel from the apple to a cooking pot with the peel and pith from the pomegranate, the hawthorn berries, and the peel and pith and seeds from the lemon. Add the filtered water and lemon juice and bring the pot to a boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 90 minutes. Add the apple pieces, pomegranate fruit, cinnamon and fennel seeds for a further 20-30 minutes of simmering before pushing the fruit paste through a strainer until you have a smooth puree.
Add the puree back into a pan and reduce the water content over a low heat until the puree holds its form when you drag a spatula through it. Taste the puree and adjust for sweetness. You’ll likely notice a little bitterness in the flavor profile. I tried two different sweeteners…According to my taste testers, sugar was more appealing in flavor, but my vote was for honey!…
However much puree you end up with…(I ended up with about a cup), you’ll find you need about 4 teaspoons of sugar per cup of puree or 2 tablespoons of honey if you decide to use this as your sweetener of choice.
Once you have the sweetness you like, the easiest way you’ll find to create the rolls will be cut strips from pre-dehydrated strips of puree that you cut with scissors. Decorate the curled up rolls with further fennel seed flecks and store in the fridge…I’d love to know if you make these. Enjoy!
