TUTTI FRUTTI PARFAIT (SERVES 6 TO 8)

9 large free-range egg yolks 250g white caster sugar 850ml whipping cream The seeds of 2 vanilla pods 60g natural colour glacé cherries, finely chopped 60g ready-to-eat dried apricots, finely chopped 40g candied angelica, finely chopped 40g candied pineapple, finely chopped 40g preserved ginger, finely shredded 40g seedless raisins, chopped 80g flaked almonds First, toast the flaked almonds in the oven or under a hot grill, until deeply golden and aromatic, stirring frequently and watching them like a hawk. Allow them to cool, and add to a bowl with the chopped pistachios. Put the remaining ingredients into a bowl, and add a good splash of amaretto and the same of kirsch. Allow the fruit to soak up some of the booze by leaving it, stirring occasionally, for about an hour. To make the basic parfait mix, whisk the yolks along with the sugar and the vanilla seeds until the mixture is very pale and fluffy. This should take at least 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, whip the cream to a firm peak. Beat a couple of tablespoons of the cream into the yolk mixture in order to lighten it (this allows the rest of the cream to fold in more easily) and then carefully fold in the remaining cream. Drain the fruit (you may wish to enjoy the fruity liquid that remains if no-one’s looking!) and fold into the parfait mixture along with the nuts. When fully incorporated, carefully spoon the parfait into a suitable freezerproof container and freeze for at least 12 hours. It should scoop straight from a regular temperature freezer, due to the modest amount of alcohol in there, but you can always leave it to warm up a little if it’s too firm.