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Cannolis (by Chef Gareth Jordaan, Lucé, Southern Sun Hyde Park)

Serves 4 Blueberry Cheesecake filling: Ingredients

100g blueberries

250g Philadelphia cream cheese 120g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions: Add the cream cheese into a mixer with a whisk attachment on a low speed. Once cream cheese has softened, add nutmeg, vanilla essence and icing sugar. Mix on a high speed until mixture is incorporated and fluffy. Fold blueberries in with a spatula and put the mixture in a piping bag.

Cannoli

Ingredients 1 cup cake flour

1 tbsp white sugar

½ tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp butter

1 egg

¼ cup sherry

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp water

500 ml cooking oil for deep frying 1 dial stick or cannoli tube for shaping.

Directions: Add the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and mix.Then add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingers. Make a well in the middle and add the egg, sherry, water and vinegar. Mix the ingredients together with a fork until the dough forms a ball. Have some flour available to dust your hands and work the surface and knead for five minutes. Wrap dough with cling wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Once dough is rested roll it out until paper thin and cut out circles with a cookie cutter (10 cm in diameter). Fold the cannoli dough around the cannoli tube for shaping and stick the ends together. Carefully place in your heated oil and deep fry for one minute. Remove your cannoli from the oil and slip off the cannoli shell from the cannoli tube. Allow to cool and then pipe in the blueberry cheesecake filling from each side.

Coconut sorbet

Ingredients 1 can coconut cream 2 tbsp icing sugar

Directions: Pour the coconut milk into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, place it in a blender with the icing sugar and blend on the highest speed.Transfer sorbet into a tub and place in the freezer until ready to use.

Italian Meringue

Ingredients: 1 cup white sugar ½ cup water

4 egg whites

½ tsp cream of tartar

Directions

Add the sugar and water in a pot on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.Turn up the heat and allow the sugar to boil. Using a sugar thermometer, bring the sugar up to 115°C. In a mixer, blend the egg whites and the cream of tartar until soft peaks are formed.This is the right stage to start adding the sugar. Slowly drizzle in the sugar syrup while the egg whites are mixing at high speed. After two minutes the meringue should have formed.

Berry Coulis

Ingredients 100g frozen berries 50g white sugar

Directions: Place the frozen berries and sugar in a blender and blend at high speed to achieve a nice smooth sauce.

Pistachio Crumble

50g shelled pistachio nuts

Directions: Place the pistachio nuts on a cutting board. Crush the nuts with the base of a whisky glass.

Assembly: Start with the pistachio crumble on one side of the plate. Place the sorbet over the crumble. On the other end of the plate, spoon on some Italian meringue and then place the blueberry cheesecake-filled cannolis on top. Finish by dressing the plate with the berry coulis and add whole berries if you wish.