Dessert: Iced vanilla & rum parfait with winter fruits
Author: Nicolas Kleist
Ingredients
- For the parfait:
- 250ml milk
- seeds from ½ vanilla pod
- 3 eggs, separated 65g sugar 400ml double cream
- 1 tbsp caster sugar 20ml dark rum
- For the winter fruits:
- 1 bottle red wine
- 100g demerara sugar
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 star anis
- 3 strips orange peel
- 3 strips lemon peel
- handful of sultanas
- 250g pitted prunes
- 250g pitted apricots
- 100g hazelnuts
- 2 pears, peeled and quartered
- 2 apples, peeled and quartered
- Garnish: crushed hazelnuts
Method
- Note – the fruit is best made 4-5 days in advance, and the parfait is frozen, so is made in advance also
- For the parfait: Bring milk to boiling point and remove from heat. Cut open the vanilla pod and scrape seeds into the milk.
- Set aside for 5 mins.
- Separate eggs and whisk yolks and sugar together until the mixture becomes pale.
- Pour the vanilla-infused milk onto the egg/sugar mixture and warm over a low heat to 85C, stirring with a wooden spoon (don’t let it boil or you will have scrambled eggs!).
- Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool.
- Put the double cream in a bowl and whisk to a soft peak.In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, add 1 tbsp caster sugar towards the end and whisk briefly again.
- Delicately fold the whipped cream into the cold milk/egg custard mix you set aside earlier, then delicately fold in the egg whites and add the rum.
- Pour mixture into moulds or rings of any shape and freeze until firm.
- For the fruit: Place all ingredients except the pears and apples in a large pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins.
- Add apples and pears and simmer for approx. 15 mins until tender.
- Leave to cool. The fruit gets better with age, so make this 4-5 days in advance.
- To serve, place parfait on cold serving plates 10 mins before serving, add fruits and crushed hazelnuts.
