Recipe of the week by Lawrence Murphy
The ‘parfait’ alternative to ice cream if you don’t have a machine for churning Iced vanilla parfait (makes eight)
In the past few weeks I’ve been out in the countryside either with the terriers or on a bike and have seen woodlands full of glorious bluebells or pungent wild garlic (I’d recommend only eating the latter).
The temperature has risen to a point where short sleeves and shorts have been worn and I’ve even fancied an ice cream.
I thought I’d give you an ice cream dessert this week but most of you probably don’t have an ice cream machine. This iced parfait recipe is a fantastic alternative to vanilla ice cream and you won’t need a special machine to churn the mixture. Served with rhubarb and broken meringue it makes a lovely dessert on a warm day.
Ingredients
160ml double cream
160ml milk
2 egg yolks
75g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
2 egg whites
50g caster sugar
125ml double cream
Method
Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar together.
Put the 160ml of cream and milk into a saucepan. Split the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the milk and cream and then bring to the boil on a low heat.
Pour the mixture on to the egg and sugar mix while stirring.
Put this mixture into a clean saucepan and put on a low heat stirring all the time until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Take off the heat and pour into a bowl - allow to cool.
Whisk the egg whites and caster sugar until firm. At the same time whisk the cream until soft peaks form.
Fold the cream into the egg white and then fold in the custard mix.
Pipe into 5cm rings on a tray lined with greaseproof and freeze for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve use the warmth of your hands on the rings to release the parfait on to cold plates and decorate with whatever you fancy. n Lawrence’s restaurant is Fat Olives, Emsworth. Visit fatolives.co.uk