Melon soup with mint, lime and warm madeleines | Recipe by sousvidetools.com
Melon soup with mint, lime and warm madeleines
- COOK TIME: 2 Hours
- PREP TIME: 8 Hours
- DIFFICULTY: Difficult
- SERVES: 10
Ingredients
Melon soup
- 1 cantaloupe melon, preferably Charentais
- 1 mango
- 1 lime, zest and juice
- 1 tsp mint leaves
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 orange, zest and juice
- 100g of orange juice
- 20g of sugar
Lime crème fraîche
- 150g of crème fraîche
- 1 lime, zest and juice
Compressed melon balls
- 1/2 watermelon
- 1 Galia melon
- 1 cantaloupe melon, preferably Charentais
Mint syrup
- 2 tbsp of mint leaves
- 50g of sugar
- 250ml of water
Lime syrup
- 2 limes, zest only
- 50g of sugar
- 500ml of water
Honey and lemon madeleines
- 6 eggs
- 250g of sugar
- 300g of butter
- 50g of honey
- 1 vanilla pod, scraped
- 2 lemons, zest and juice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 150g of ground almonds
- 200g of flour
- 20g of icing sugar
Confit lemon
- 50g of lemon peel
- 80g of sugar
- 100g of lemon juice
To serve
- mint leaves
- icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Recipe courtesy of chef Graham Hornigold from www.greatbritishchefs.com
METHOD
- Prepare the melon soup a day in advance. Peel the mango and extract the stone. Remove the skin from the melon and scoop out the seeds. Cut the flesh of both fruit into chunks, then place in a bowl and scatter over the mint leaves and citrus zests. Add the vanilla pod and the lime juice.
- Place the orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, then add the syrup to the bowl with melon and mango. Spoon the mixture into a vacuum bag and seal. Chill overnight in the fridge.
- Also on the day before serving, make the lime crème fraîche. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed, then transfer to a muslin bag suspended over a large jug or bowl. Leave overnight to drain.
- Meanwhile, prepare the lime syrup. Place the sugar, water and lime zest in a saucepan, bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- For the mint syrup, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and cook over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat and add the mint leaves, lightly crushing them first. Stir thoroughly, then set aside to cool
- To make the compressed melon balls, begin by deseeding the melons.
- Using the large scoop of a double-ended melon baller, remove 30 medium-sized balls of flesh from the watermelon (3 balls per serving) and place in a vacuum bag. Add 50g of the cool mint syrup, then seal and chill overnight in the fridge.
- Repeat step 7 with the Charentais melon but add 50g of lime syrup, instead of mint.
- Repeat step 7 with the Galia melon but use the small end of the melon baller, instead of the large end. Add 50g of mint syrup.
- Next, prepare the madeleines. Combine the eggs and sugar in a food mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat until pale and thick. Sift the flour, ground almonds and baking powder into a separate bowl and mix well. Meanwhile, place the butter and honey in a small saucepan and cook over a gentle heat until completely melted, then mix in the vanilla and lemon zest.
- Keep the food mixer running on a slow speed and add a spoonful of the flour and almond mixture and a drizzle of the melted butter to the eggs. When they are fully incorporated, repeat with a little more flour and butter. Continue until all of the dry and wet ingredients have been added, then stretch a layer of cling film over the bowl and allow to rest overnight.
- On the day of serving, finish the melon soup. Unseal the vacuum bag and remove the vanilla pod and as many mint leaves as possible, then empty the bag into a food processor. Pulse until puréed, then transfer to a fine sieve or chinois and leave to drain into large bowl.
- Preheat the oven to a temperature of 180⁰C/gas mark 4.
- To make the confit lemon, slice the lemon peel into fine strips, trimming off any pith. Plunge the sliced peel into boiling water, then transfer immediately to cold water. Blanch the peel in this way twice more, using fresh water each time
- Place the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a gentle simmer, then add the blanched lemon peel and leave to cook until the peel becomes translucent.
- Next, finish the madeleines. Stir the rested mixture until it flows smoothly, then spoon into a piping bag. Drop a few pieces of confit lemon peel into each hole of a madeleine tray, then cover with mixture from the piping bag. Reserve some confit lemon for later.
- Once filled, place the madeleine tray in the oven and leave to cook for 5-8 minutes, or until golden brown. This recipe will make approximately 32 madeleines so you may need to bake the mixture in several batches.
- While the madeleines are cooking, prepare a glaze by combining the icing sugar and the juice from the two zested lemons. As soon as the madeleines are cooked, generously coat them with the glaze before they cool down.
- Before serving, spoon the drained crème fraîche into a piping bag.
- To serve, measure out 50ml of melon soup into each bowl, then add a few dots of lime crème fraîche and 9 balls of compressed melon (3 of each variety). Scatter over some mint leaves and the reserved confit lemon, then dust the madeleines with icing sugar and place a few on the side of each bowl.
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