Brunoise (small dice) the raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and pineapple. This will not come out perfect for the berries, but dice them as small as possible without damaging the fruit. Keep the fruit refrigerated until ready to serve.
Meanwhile, make the orange broth by combining the orange juice, sugar and water in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the mixture. Heat the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Let the vanilla infuse for 5 minutes, and then strain through a fine sieve. Chill.
Use a small ring mold to arrange the diced fruit in the middle of each bowl.
Place a small scoop of the basil sorbet on top of the fruit.
Pour the orange broth in the bottom of the bowls.
If desired, garnish with a fried basil leaf and a sweet tuile cookie.
2 cups blueberries
2 cups strawberries
2 cups pineapple
1½ cups orange juice
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup water
1 vanilla bean
Basil sorbet (Click here to find the recipe.)
This article appears in Jun 1-30, 2010.