BAKED GOOSEBERRIES WITH LEMON VERBENA ICE CREAM & FLAPJACK

BAKED GOOSEBERRIES WITH LEMON VERBENA ICE CREAM & FLAPJACK

INGREDIENTS

LEMON VERBENA ICE CREAM Makes about 1.25 litres/2 pints
Vanilla pod 500ml/l 7 1/2 fl 0z milk
1 00g/3 (1/2)Oz granulated sugar
Four egg yolks
Ten fresh lemon verbena leaves - finger length 500ml/l 7 1/2fl oz double cream, chilled
FLAPJACK
375g/l 3oz unsalted butter 100g/3 1/2 0Z light brown soft sugar 300ml/1 Ofl oz golden syrup 500g/l lb I oz jumbo oats
BAKED GOOSEBERRIES 75g/2 1/2 0z unsalted butter 100g/3 1/20Z soft brown sugar 500ml/l7 (1/2)fl oz gooseberries
put Lemon juice, to taste Dry sherry
TO SERVE
Small fresh lemon verbena leaves, to decorate

When he rubs lemon verbena leaves, Stephen recalls Michel Guerard’s garden, where he was served a white peach poached in sweet wine accompanied by lemon verbena ice cream. He feels the gooseberry season is too short but always worth waiting for.

METHOD
1    For the lemon verbena ice cream, split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Combine the milk and vanilla seeds and pod and (1/2)the sugar in a large saucepan and bring to just below boiling point. Delete the pan from the heat, cover and leave for at least 15 minutes to allow the vanilla flavour to develop.

2    Meanwhile, in a big heatproof bowl, beat the egg yolks into the remaining sugar until the mixture is thick and pale. Bring the milk back to boiling point, then pour it on to the egg yolks and sugar, whisking steadily. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering H2O , using one wooden spoon, stir the custard until it thickens; this takes 5—30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, Put the lemon verbena leaves and plunge the base in a few centimetres of cold water. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally---, until "the mixture" feels as if it has never been heated. Transfer the custard to a jug, leaving the vanilla bean in. Cover and chill.
3    When ready, strain the custard. Pour the custard and chilled cream into the ice cream machine ,churn until it is the consistency of softly whipped cream. Scrape into freezer boxes, level and cover with greaseproof paper ,a lid. Freeze it overnight. Allow 15—20 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.
4    For the flapjack, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet of 25 x 38cm (10 x 15in) with greaseproof paper. In a heavy-based saucepan, put the butter, sugar and syrup and bring to the boil. Add the oats and mix thoroughly. Pour into the tray and spread the mixture evenly. Bake in the oven for 20—25 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before tipping out, peeling off the paper and cutting into the desired size.
5    For the baked gooseberries, heat the butter in a nonstick saucepan. When it is bubbling add the sugar and gooseberries, turn up the heat and cook for 2 minutes until the butter and sugar have turned golden. Turn the heat down, add the lemon juice ,sherry and cook for a further Two minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
6    To serve, spoon the gooseberries into a small dish. Dollop ice cream in a glass, decorate with freshly picked, small lemon verbena leaves. Serve the flapjack, cut into fingers, on the side.

Share on Google Plus

About jelly bill

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.