Sous Vide Apricots with Almond Sponge | Recipe by sousvidetools.com
Sous Vide Apricots with Almond Sponge, Apricot Gel and Clotted Cream Ice Cream
- COOK TIME: 2 hours
- PREP TIME: 2 Hours
- DIFFICULTY: Difficult
- SERVES: 8
Ingredients
Poached Apricots
- 500g of apricot, halved and stoned
- 250g of caster sugar
- 250g of water
- ½ lemon, juice and zest
- 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
- 75ml of apricot purée
- ½ stick of cinnamon
Clotted Cream Ice Cream
- 120g of egg yolks
- 130g of caster sugar
- 150g of double cream
- 400g of semi skimmed milk
- 15g of glycerine
- 250g of clotted cream
Praline
- 170g of caster sugar
- 70g of flaked almonds
- 10g of unsalted butter
Almond Sponge
- 100g of ground almonds
- 100g of unsalted butter
- 100g of caster sugar
- 100g of egg
- 20g of self-raising flour
- sea salt
- almond extract to taste
Apricot Gel
- 150g of apricot purée
- 50ml of white wine
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds only
Method
Recipe courtesy of Russell Brown from www.greatbritishchefs.com
METHOD
- To prepare the clotted cream ice cream, thoroughly combine the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl using a whisk.
- Pour the double cream and the milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat gently until warmed through but not boiling. Add the cream a little at a time to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. When all the cream has been added, tip the mixture back into the heavy-bottomed pan.
- Place the pan over a medium heat. Keep stirring the custard while it cooks and ensure that the temperature reaches 79⁰C for at least 15 seconds in order to pasteurise the eggs.
- When the mixture begins to thicken, take the pan off the heat and, using a whisk, mix in the clotted cream and glycerine. Strain the custard through fine chinois and lay a sheet of cling film over the surface to prevent it forming a skin.
- Refrigerate the custard until completely cold. If possible, chill overnight.
- Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen. Store in the freezer until ready to serve.
- To make the almond praline, place the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat until it forms a medium brown caramel. Drop the almonds into the caramel; this will cause it to thicken slightly. Cook until it becomes runny again, then stir in the butter.
- When the butter is fully incorporated, tip the caramel onto a heatproof surface. Leave until cold and brittle, then smash into coarse pieces.
- Preheat the water bath to a temperature of 80⁰C.
- Next, make the poaching syrup for the apricots. Mix together the sugar, water, lemon, apricot purée, vanilla and cinnamon in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Cook until the sugar has completely dissolved and a syrup has formed, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Using a chamber sealer, seal the apricot halves inside a vacuum bag with the poaching syrup. Place the bag in the water bath and leave to cook for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the bag from the water bath and plunge immediately into iced water to chill.
- Preheat the oven to a temperature of 160⁰C/gas mark 3.
- For the almond sponge, combine the ground almonds, flour and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then gradually mix in the egg. Sift the dry ingredients and stir into the butter mix using a gentle folding action. Flavour to taste with almond extract.
- Spoon the sponge mixture into silicone mini bar moulds and place in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes until risen and golden.
- Next, make the apricot gel. Use a whisk to combine the apricot purée, white wine and vanilla seeds in a small saucepan. Cook the mixture until it begins to boil, then take the pan off the heat and leave to cool. Once cooled, purée in a blender.
- To serve, smear a small amount of gel across the centre of each plate. Slice the warm almond sponges into small, square pieces and arrange a few on each plate, placing them diagonally across the smear of gel.
- Add three poached apricot halves to each plate. You can leave the halves whole or, if you prefer, you can trim some into smaller pieces.
- Scatter the chopped praline in a circle around the sponge and apricots. Place a small ball of ice cream on the circle. To finish the dish, dot with more apricot gel and sprinkle with the remaining praline.