Seasonal Recipe of the Week – Carrot parfait by Mat Gillan
Our seasonal recipe for carrot parfait, sorbet, cinnamon macaroon and orange and cardamon cake comes courtesy of Matt Gillan, head chef of The Pass restaurant at South Lodge hotel in West Sussex.
INGREDIENTS
For the carrot parfait
â- 250g sugar
â- 50g water
â- 500ml double cream
â- 9 egg yolks
For the carrot sorbet
â- 1kg carrot juice
â- 160g sugar
â- 100g pro sorbet
For the orange & cardamom cake â- 1 litre orange juice, reduced to 300ml, with 10 cardamom pods - use 65ml of this reduced juice
â- 175g soft butter
â- 175g light brown sugar
â- Zest of 4 oranges
â- 3 eggs
â- 175g self raising flour
For the cinnamon macaroons â- 375g icing sugar
â- 5g cocoa powder
â- 5g ground coffee
â- 1tsp ground cinnamon
â- 15g plain flour
â- 180g egg white
â- 75g caster sugar
â- Pastry cream to fill
METHOD
For the carrot parfait Whip the cream to a soft peak. Whip the egg yolks and bring the sugar and water to 121°C. Pour sugar onto the egg yolks and whip until cold.
Add the purée to the yolks then fold the cream into egg mix.
Pipe into moulds.
For the carrot sorbet Mix all the ingredients together and put into a Pacojet beaker. Freeze.
For the orange & cardamom cake Cream the butter and sugar. Beat the eggs and add a little at a time until fully incorporated. Add the orange zest and juice. Fold in the flour. Pour into a bread tin and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool, then chill.
For the cinnamon macaroons Sieve flour, icing sugar, cocoa powder, coffee and cinnamon. Whisk the egg whites until firm then add the caster sugar. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg white. Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe small dots onto a baking sheet. Place into oven at 105°C until crisp. When cold, fill with pastry cream.
Matt Gillan, head chef, The Pass, South Lodge hotel, West Sussex
RECOMMENDED WINE
This creative dessert needs a creative wine matching. The first idea that comes to mind is a wine with a fair amount of acidity. The wine ought to have been through a bit of oak ageing - sweet spices like cinnamon and cardamon work really well with oak.
An Italian sweet wine would match perfectly with this dessert - for example, Recioto di Soave. Another interesting option would be Torcolato from Veneto, vinified by Maculan, made from the local variety Vespaiolo.
Xavier Rousset is sommelier and co-owner of Texture and 28-50 in London.
