Foodista Quick Tip: Infusions

Making herb and spice infusions is one way to capture huge amounts of concentrated flavors in liquid form. Infusions like clove and cinnamon oil or basil infused cream can be used as a components or as main flavors to a recipe. Bartenders, ice cream makers, bakers and chefs all use a variety of herbal and spice infusions to create delicious creations like lavender ice cream, tarragon oil or anise infused vodka.

Sound too gastronomic or overly labor intensive? If you can brew a cup of tea, then you are already an infusion pro.  There are a couple culinary rules to follow when it comes to infusions. According to chemistry cooking pro, Harold McGee, the best flavored infusions come from slow extractions of raw fruits and vegetables in a liquid at either room temperature or in the refrigerator for several days or several weeks.

In most culinary regards, there are two main ways to infuse most liquids: cold infusion and heat infusion.

Cold Infusion: Cold infusions are good for delicate herbs that lose their volatile qualities when heated: use a cold infusion technique with fragile leafy herbs like basil, mint, lavender, or tarragon.  A cold infusion consists of soaking whole or blended herbs or spices  in cold water, milk or edible oils, (like olive oil) for several hours. The mixture is then strained and preserved. *Keep your homemade infusions cold when not in use.

Heat Infusion: Best with woody herbs and spices like cinnamon, thyme, lemongrass or star anise. This is the most frequently used method for all dried herbs or woody spice infusions and is produced by pouring boiling water over herbs or spices and steeping this mixture for fifteen minutes to half an hour. Another way to make a hot infusion is to bring a liquid with an herb or spice to a desired temperature over a stove and let it steep. Depending on desired potency of flavor, this could take several minutes to several hours.

For recipes with infusions, check out these great blogs for ideas, or see the recipes below:

Food & Style's Rosemary Gelato
Family Fresh Cooking's Chai Tea Infused Applesauce
Lillyella's Vanilla Oil

Above photo by Quinn.anya