Olive Magazine

Pistachio and cherry nougat cheesecake-stuffed pandoro

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If you can’t find a pandoro – a traditiona­l Italian sweet bread popular around Christmas – and have a little spare time, this recipe will work well with a basic vanilla sponge recipe. Bake it in a pandoro tin, which can be found online.

SERVES 10 | PREP 40 MINS PLUS CHILLING COOK 5 MINS | EASY

1kg shop-bought pandoro

2 platinum-grade gelatine leaves

500g ricotta

200g soft cheese

80g icing sugar

1 orange, zested

2 tsp almond extract

1 tbsp amaretto

100g soft pistachio nougat

100g maraschino cherries in syrup (choose ones that are bright red in colour), drained and roughly chopped

4 egg whites (save the yolks to use in fruit curds or fried rice)

220g caster sugar

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 Cut a 4cm-thick piece off the bottom of the pandoro, hollow out a little of the middle (leaving a thick layer all the way round) and set aside – this will be your base later.

Carefully cut a circle into the middle of the main pandoro and hollow out most of it, leaving a thick layer around the edge to prevent any of the filling leaking through the sides.

2 Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5 mins until softened. Bring 2 tbsp of water to a simmer in a small pan. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and add it to the pan, then gently heat for 1 min until the gelatine has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

3 In a large bowl, beat together the ricotta, soft cheese and icing sugar until just combined and smooth. Stir in the cooled gelatine, orange zest, almond extract and amaretto, then gently fold in the nougat and cherries.

4 Spoon the ricotta filling into the hollowed-out centre of the pandoro, then sandwich with the base. Carefully wrap the whole thing in cling film, starting at the sides to prevent it splitting, before wrapping over the base and top. Put upright on a plate and chill for 4-5 hrs or overnight.

5 Whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl to stiff peaks using an electric whisk. Add the caster sugar, 1-2 tbsp at a time, whisking continuous­ly until you have a thick, glossy mixture that holds its shape when the beaters are lifted away from the bowl. Quickly beat in the vinegar.

6 Remove the pandoro from the fridge, transfer to a serving plate and carefully remove the cling film. Swirl the meringue all over the outside using a palette knife, then, if you have one, use a kitchen blowtorch to evenly brown. Cut into wedges to serve.

PER SERVING 733 kcals | fat 33.3G saturates 22.3G | carbs 90.3G | sugars 63.8G fibre 1.1G | protein 16.2G | salt 1.1G

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