Spring for me is reverberation of Aztec philosophy. The four petal flower is symbolic with every breath that I take. It transitions just as the seasons ovulate. Its symbolises life. death, womb, blood, energy, four directions, centre, sun, light, heat, plants and the very essence of life (heart). My composition today is based on this metaphysics. If you find these elements in the composition I would feel blessed.
Rhubarb ice cream meringues
This is one indulgent recipe and one of those recipes where you can prepare the components well in advance and assemble it before serving. Make the ice cream , meringues and syrup a day before. Put a scoop of ice cream on the meringue and add a few pieces of cooked rhubarb and drizzle of the rhubarb syrup.
There is Spring Rhubarb sourced from local Chiswick gardens and farms.
Here is a quick note on how I prepared my meringues.
I generally over dry my sugar which is used in the meringue (meringue girls tip). So the sugar doesn’t lend any moisture to the meringues.
4 egg whites and 240 g castor sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
Preheat the oven to 150C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Put the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl with a pinch of salt. Using an electric which, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks form. Beat in the sugar one spoon at a time and then the vanilla. Put the meringue mixture into a piping bag with a star nozzle. Then pipe rosettes on the parchment paper (well spaced) to form 6 nests. Put on the middle shelf of your oven and immediately rescue the temperature to 120C. Bake for 45 minutes and then turn off the heat and leave to cool completely in the oven before removing.
- Rhubarb ice cream
- 100 g condensed milk
- 450ml Fresh double cream
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 kg rhubarb cut into pieces
- 180 g castor sugar
- Put the rhubarb in a wide pan with 250ml water, 1 tsp of the vanilla bean paste and 180g sugar. Set it over medium heat and stirring gently bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes until the rhubarb is soft but not completely falling apart. Cool and chill.
- Now here is my trick (learnt from the kitchen) to make the most creamiest ice-cream. I whip the fresh cream to soft peaks in a large glass . Then in a separate bowl I mix 1 tsp of the vanilla bean paste and the condensed milk properly. Then I carefully fold in the whipped cream into the condensed milk. It will resemble the consistency of a soft serve ice cream.
- Carefully lift the rhubarb from its juices,reserving the juice for serving. Then fold in 2/3 of the rhubarb, then transfer to freeze proof containers and freeze.
- For serving, Make the ice cream , meringues and syrup a day before. Put a scoop of ice cream on the meringue and add a few pieces of cooked rhubarb and drizzle of the rhubarb syrup.
Simply sensational – this is totally my kind of dessert crunchy meringues and a cool cream ice cream. The fact that the ice cream uses condense milk is a huge wow factor!
Your composition is just breathtaking!
Bow to you my lady!!! Composition is just so beautiful and the filter in your images make me go over and over again.
Simply superb ! I don’t think I’ll ever get this anywhere , even to see, leave alone tasting . Looks just out of this word , fantastic presentation !
This is a feel good caring foodpost. The care with which you have made the rhubarb ice cream meringues and the presentation both reflects and tempts the reader to dig into it