This is a great dish for valentines, with vibrant red and purples and utilising forced rhubarb in the height of its season. Plenty of different textures and tastes for a great eating experience at the end of a romantic meal. This dish would be great on a fine dining menu, it has a lot of different elements so very time consuming to prep and plate.
Preparation:
Cooking: 1 hour (Prep & Cooking Time) - Needing to dehydrate the pain d’epices croutons overnight
Serves: 4 people
Compote - Pain d’epices
Ingredients
- 175g of honey
- 20g of soft dark brown sugar
- 62g of plain flour
- 62g of buckwheat flour
- 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon
- 1tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 20g of baking powder
- 1 medium egg
- 50g of whole milk
- 1 tsp red food colouring
- Grease spray
Method
in a small saucepan heat up the honey and brown sugar until dissolved then take off the heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and food colouring, add the honey and sugar and then the sifted and combined flour, spices and baking powder and combine until you have a smooth batter.
Grease spray a small loaf tin and add the batter, place on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 180 degrees and bake for around 35 minutes, until the top is dark brown and a knife comes out clean if you pierce the centre with it.
Let cool and then slice in half, tear one half into small chunks and keep aside, then tear the other half into same sized chunks and place in a dehydrator overnight or until they have turned crispy like croutons.
Violet and yoghurt sorbet
Ingredients
- 75g violet sugar (I used Texturas Azuleta)
- 75g water
- 600g plain greek yoghurt
Method
Heat up the violet sugar and water in a medium saucepan until the sugar dissolves and you have a bright purple stock syrup, let cool and then whisk into the greek yoghurt, church in a sorbet churner until frozen, empty into a suitable container and place in the freezer.
Poached rhubarb
Ingredients
- 500g Yorkshire forced rhubarb
- Sprinkle of sugar
Method
Preheat a waterbath to 61 degrees Celsius, wash and slice the rhubarb into 2cm long batons and line in a vaccum bag, sprinkle sugar over the rhubarb and vacuum seal. Poach in the waterbath for 10 minutes or until the rhubarb starts to be soft to touch, cool on ice immediately.
Beetroot puree
Ingredients
- 200g sliced purple beetroot
- 100g caster sugar
- 50ml balsamic vinegar
- 100ml water
Method
Peel and finely slice the beetroot on a mandolin, combine the vinegar, sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil, place the beetroot in the pan, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the top of the pan, cook out for about half an hour or until the beetroot is completely tender. Blend in a liquidiser, adding sugar or vinegar to adjust the acidity, pass through a fine mesh sieve and put into a squeezy bottle ready for serving.
To serve
Ingredients
- redcurrants
- red amaranth
Method
Place the rhubarb batons on the plate, dot the beetroot puree around it, place a mixture of fresh and crispy pain d’epices and rocher the sorbet on top, garnish with fresh redcurrant and amaranth and serve.