Asparagus Dornfelder Cream

It is Asparagus time! Patiently and happily I await the month of April yearly and for a couple of years I have been dwelling upon ideas to vary this wonderful product while enhancing its taste as well. Some possibilities have already proved to be successful and I am glad to share some with you.

It is again and again quiet time for a Dornfelder. At least some palates have already discovered that already. The red wine from the Dornfelder grape has been gaining appreciation and love for several years, but was intended to play a very different role in the German wine industry, than it does today. In 1955 August Herold was looking to create a new grape which would be able to help change the minds of those claiming German red wines are of lesser quality, based on their weak colour. He was looking for a grape to support other grapes. However, the new wine provided more than just support from the beginning on and continues to gain popularity, even among those with high expectations and many wine critics and experts. I always avoided drinking ANY German wines - especially after discovering the wonderful ones from Austria -, until a neighbour gave me a Dornfelder bottle some ten years ago. Since then this one deep red German spends sufficient time in my mouth.

My Dornfelder Asparagus Cream is based on two particular tastes (Red wine and Asparagus) and the key is to combine these two as gently and elegant as possible.

... and it is always Coffee time...

• 1 liter Dornfelder (or another deep red wine)
• about 300 g white Asparagus
• some drops from a ristretto (to taste)
• one vanilla pod
• 250 gm muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)
• 250 gm mascarpone
• a few young mint leaves

Take the Dornfelder, vanilla (split long-wise and scrape out its content), sugar and several drops of a ristretto and heat these up in a medium size pot with the asparagus (cut in small pieces) and cook while stirring until the fluid has become syrup and the asparagus is cooked. Clean the vanilla pod and leave it out. You may dry it out and keep it for other dishes or put in an enclosed bottle with sugar, to obtain vanilla sugar. Let the mixture cool down and put it in the mixer, before adding the mascarpone to it. Put the finished cream in espresso glasses and let it a rest a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Before serving you may decorate it with single mint leaves.

So, enjoy your coffee, or your asparagus, or your Dornfelder, and enjoy the Dornfelder Asparagus Cream, as long as you have the chance this time around.