Skyr cream, rhubarb granita, sour cherry honey, pine nut
15 Jul 2018
In keeping with the general structure that my menus tend to follow, this is the first of two desserts and is an updated take on "Blood orange, yogurt, pine nut", which remains possibly my most successful dish ever with guests. A sweetened and aerated yogurt cream is the perfect foil for a scraped-ice granita, which melts as soon as you put it in your mouth. Some toasted crushed pine nuts and honey (with sour cherry flavor in this case) are perfect toppings. Instead of Greek yogurt I'm using skyr, which is an Icelandic strained yogurt quite similar to Greek yogurt; you could substitute the two here.
I experimented with a couple different flavor combinations and presentations here. The seasonal strawberry/rhubarb flavor of this version is quite nice, but I'm not terribly happy with the presentation. Early versions covered the yogurt cream entirely with the granita. This version was intended to be a little more freeform, plating the granita and garnishes around the cream. However the cream was a bit on the loose side and the granita melted fast in my hot apartment, yielding a less than ideal presentation. Make sure to freeze your serving bowls well in advance! I think next time I'll serve this in a citrus shell, with the granita covering the cream.
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Ingredients
For 4 servings.
For the skyr cream:
1 sheet gelatin
160g cream
50g sugar
250g skyr
0.4g xanthan gum (0.1% cream+skyr)
For the rhubarb/strawberry granita:
270g rhubarb, sliced
180g strawberry, hulled and sliced
650g water
90g sugar
Lemon juice
Salt
To serve:
Pine nuts
Sour cherry honey
Equipment:
Whipping siphon
Directions
- Prepare the skyr cream (up to 24h in advance): Bloom the gelatin in cold water. Combine the cream, sugar, and xanthan gum in a pot over medium heat; whisk or blend to combine. Squeeze excess water from the gelatin and melt into the cream mixture. Heat to 122F, then strain into a bowl with the skyr. Whisk well to combine. Strain into to a whipping siphon and chill over an ice bath. Charge once with N2O. Chill until needed.
- Prepare the rhubarb/strawberry granita (up to 24h in advance): Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30m. Strain, pressing on the solids. Chill over an ice bath. Pour into a wide-bottomed container. Freeze for at least 3h, scraping with a fork every 45m to get good crystal formation.
- Prepare the toasted pine nuts (up to 5h in advance): Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat until lightly browned, about 4m. Crush the toasted nuts in a mortar and pestle; reserve in an airtight container until needed.
- To serve: Disperse some of the skyr cream into a frozen serving bowl. Scrape some of the granita next to and on top of the cream. Top with the sour cherry honey and crushed pine nuts.
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