The Sweet Potential of Tomatoes
Three ways I’m incorporating tomatoes into dessert recipes that yield exceptional and delightful flavors.
I remember a meal I once had with my wife in 2005. It was in a Moroccan restaurant in the southern French village of Aigues Mortes, situated on the extreme western edge of the Camargue.
I don’t recall much more about the experience, although I know it was a warm day; my memories still feel the heat radiating from the medieval walls surrounding the ancient city as it reflected off the cobblestones. I can imagine that I probably enjoyed a plate of couscous in the restaurant – an obvious choice because I grew up eating couscous made by my mother. Maybe I had some b’stilla to begin the meal? I don’t know. But I do remember the intermezzo that came in between unremarkable courses.
Intermezzos are generally not part of a Moroccan experience, so having one served to us stood out. And intermezzos are mostly a part of the meal that isn’t remembered. This one was different. It was a deeply red sorbet in a crunchy basket made from phyllo dough. It tasted like chermoula – a famous Moroccan condiment. I could taste tomato…and a hint of onion, lemon, and coriander. It was refreshing…simply outstanding…and exactly right in that moment.
When I asked my wife recently if she remembered that restaurant, she responded, “Do you mean the one that served chermoula sorbet?” I guess exceptional and delightful flavor experiences have a way of sticking around…and that got me thinking and experimenting.
I like to do things in the kitchen that seem counterintuitive to traditional Western palates but still well within the boundaries of the not-too-extreme – conservative things like using fruits in savory dishes, infusing rosemary or sage into roasted apples or apricots, and caramelizing figs and grapes to balance fatty or salty main courses. These ideas and practices were not extreme or especially innovative. In fact, there’s a long history of fruit used in savory dishes within Persian culture. And, of course, meat-eaters will be familiar with classical pairings of duck and orange, pork and apples, and lamb and apricots.
But what about the other way around? I wanted to explore ways vegetables could be used in fruit dishes. Obviously, carrot cake, zucchini bread, and paring beetroot with chocolate are some classical ideas that have existed for a long time. It’s also easy to add to the list. Sweet potato pie is delicious and popular...and so is the classical pumpkin pie – although, like tomatoes, pumpkins are fruits that like to play as a vegetable.
I didn’t want to be too persnickety about what’s a fruit and what’s a vegetable – I just wanted to explore the sweet potential of tomatoes.
Fortunately, my chance arrived quickly. My urban garden neighbor had an abundance of sweet, golden tomatoes – the ones called sun sugar yellow tomatoes, which I could help myself to. These little gems were less acidic and much sweeter than red cherry tomatoes. Biting into one reminded me more of a berry than a tomato...at least at first. Shortly after an initial wave of sugar washed over my tongue, a gentle suggestion of tomato appeared...that familiar sweet, savory vibe that can only belong to a tomato.
This was the tomato I was searching for...this was precisely the ingredient that unlocked my imagination.
Begin with the Right Tomato
Tomatoes are not created equal. Some are rich in acids...or sugars. Some are balanced. Some are meaty, while others are watery. Some have thick skins...others have thin ones. Choosing the right tomato is a crucial first step in creating a tomato dessert. I recommend looking for small, golden tomatoes, which should be simple to find in most markets worldwide. Taste one, if you can. They should be sweet and bursting with tomato flavor. Some ‘cherry’ tomato varieties are also entirely appropriate...they, too, should be sweet and flavorful.
The flavor of the tomato should be rich in savoriness (this is the tomato vibe caused by glutamates and the primary reason most people use this fruit as a vegetable). If you are considering creating something unconventional, you may as well go all in instead of dancing around the edges of the unusual. But too much savory hitting the palate too quickly is also a problem, which is why it’s essential to try and figure out how to highlight a hit of fruit on the mouth first before getting whacked by umami...and that is easily achieved by pairing tomatoes with fruits and certain spices.
I’ve learned from playing around with different techniques and ideas that tomato flavors can be dominant...but also fragile. For example, too many strong and fatty flavors from nuts dominate the dish and ghost the tomato experience. The same can be said when using strong and warm spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger...using a light touch can be appropriate, but adding too much causes confusion and overwhelms the tomato sensation. Adding anything acidic (citrus juice, tamarind, pomegranate syrup, or vinegar) to balance some of the sweetness is a good idea. But adding too much acid brings out too much savoriness from the tomatoes and turns a dessert into something closer to a salad. The best ingredient pairings with tomatoes come from other fruits – especially summer stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and cherries. And that’s where my journey began.
I started my dessert experiments with recipes I already knew and felt comfortable making. I saw big, ripe peaches at the market – the kind of summer fruit we all dream about because we know there will be sweet, sticky juices running down the chin when we bite into one of these beauties. I wondered, “Would my sweet golden tomatoes work with these peaches?” I thought they might, so I asked for a few…a few that were still slightly firm because I already knew I would make a cobbler.
My first attempt went precisely as planned. The preparation was simple. The peaches kept their flavor and released enough juice to be soaked into the bottom of my biscuit topping. I placed the tomatoes on top of the sliced peaches – they kept their shape during baking…and burst with little bits of tomato berries that offset the sweetness of the peaches. What a delightful dessert. Sure, I could have just made a peach cobbler and been satisfied – even thrilled with the outcome. But the tomatoes added something extra…something unusual, but not too far out there.
I decided to work with apples in my next experiment. I thought of my classic apple pie recipe, highlighted by a touch of cinnamon and a suggestion of cloves. It’s a pie that is simply marvelous to eat – especially when encased in my flaky vegan pastry shell. But how would adding these sweet golden tomatoes work in this pie?
The pie was delicious…but I don’t think the tomatoes worked as well as I hoped. They clashed a bit with the spices and soft apple interior. I decided a fruit pie encased in flaky dough works great…but maybe next time I would use a different fruit – perhaps apricots, plums, or even peaches once again.
My next adventure became my most involved experiment – making tomato ice cream. I also added a challenge to my work – creating the ice cream without using a machine to churn it.
My first attempt involved using a cashew cream base and working in chunks of tomatoes before freezing the mix. The nuttiness of the cashews completely overwhelmed the tomato flavor, and I was left with a moderately acceptable cashew ice cream.
I changed a few things in my second attempt. I cooked the tomatoes in a sugar syrup first, then added them to the cashew cream, freezing it as I did in the first example. I decided to add to the tomato experience by creating a delightful and tasty apricot and tomato syrup to pour over the ice cream. The results were marginally effective. The flavor of the ice cream was still too much cashew and not enough tomatoes. On the other hand, the tomato-apricot syrup over the ice cream was highly delicious.
My third attempt brought me closer to my objective. I made my cashew base much more liquid, then added a tablespoon of pea protein (the current trend in making vegan gelato in Italy) and a small amount of xanthan gum. I hoped to cut back on the nut flavor and add creaminess. To boost the tomato flavor, I added my tomato-apricot syrup to the cream and then froze it. Now, this is getting interesting…a scoop or two of this ice cream and a topping of tomato-apricot syrup create a more balanced experience with a delightful hit of tomato…and for that, I can only say yum!
The recipes below are stable and work…but these are evolving recipes, and I can imagine they will change a bit during the next 6-8 weeks as I work to perfect the potential of tomatoes in desserts.
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