I want whatever I cook be as flavorful and satisfying as possible but I don’t want to kill myself in the process. Which is why I love simple, easy tricks for making food taste good. And that is why I love infusions—they’re one of the easiest ways to infuse food with flavor.
What do I mean by an infusion? Infusing is basically steeping one ingredient—for example herbs, spices, or fruit—in another—for example water, milk, or alcohol—in order to flavor the latter with the former.
So when you steep a tea bag in hot water, you’re infusing. When you drizzle garlic olive oil on your popcorn or chili oil on your stir-fry, you’re taking advantage of an infusion. If you’re a gin lover, you’re an infusion lover—gin gets its signature flavor by being infused with juniper (plus other herbs and spices).
These are some everyday ways that infusing adds flavor to food. But what happens if you get a little creative? You can make Early Grey ice cream, that’s what—by infusing a basic ice cream recipe with Earl Grey tea. You can make a Rosemary Meyer Lemon Drop, thanks to rosemary-infused simple syrup. And you can make Bay-Infused Chocolate Pot de Crème (pictured), the snazziest, sexiest, tastiest homemade chocolate pudding ever, thanks to a few fresh bay leaves tossed into the pudding base.
(Chocolate Pot de Crème would be pretty perfect for Valentine’s Day. Just sayin’.)
The bottom line is that any liquid can be infused, including water, vinegar, oil, milk, cream, sugar syrup, fruit puree, wine, liquor, and honey. And any herb, spice, fruit, or aromatic can be an infuser, including berries, citrus zest, basil, mint, lemon verbena, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, lavender, and tea.
And although heat isn’t always required, it usually helps. So any time you’re heating a liquid for a recipe anyway, it’s a no-brainer to consider an infusion.
A few infusory tips:
How much to add? It depends on the nature of the liquid and the potency of your infuser. Generally, a fat-based liquid like olive oil or cream is better at absorbing flavors than a water- or alcohol-based liquid. So you’ll need less citrus zest to make citrus olive oil than to make citrus vodka. And if you’re making an herbed honey, you’ll need less rosemary than you would mint, because rosemary is stronger.
How long to steep? That also depends on the nature of your liquid and the strength of your steeper. Start out with a ratio of two cups liquid to about a half cup of herb leaves, half of a vanilla pod, two cinnamon sticks, four inches of fresh ginger, three sprigs of lavender, or zest from 2 citrus fruits. Then steep for about thirty minutes, taste, and adjust as necessary.
Sometimes infusers can use a little help. Herbs, for instance, will give up more flavor if they’re muddled or bruised. A vanilla bean will release more flavor if you split and scrape it, adding both the seeds and the remaining pod to the liquid. And generally, more surface area equals more flavor. So minced ginger, for example, will yield more gingery-ness than sliced.
Make some Bay-Infused Chocolate Pot de Crème to really experience the difference that an easy, additional layer of flavor can provide. Then branch out to chai tea-infused honey drizzled over oatmeal. Basil-infused whipped cream on of fruit salad. And lavender-infused lemon curd made into lavender lemon meringue pie.
Infusing is easy. It can make your dish more delish. And the possibilities are endless.