Ingredients
| FOR THE HONEY & YOGHURT CREAM | |
| 300ml cream | |
| 2 tablespoons honey | |
| 1 teaspoon agar agar | |
| 300ml thick Greek yoghurt | |
| FOR THE SALTED CARAMEL COOKIE & COFFEE CRUMB | |
| 1 salted caramel cookie (I used Leeds St Bakery or use your own favourite plain or caramel cookie) | |
| 1 tablespoon ground coffee | |
| FOR THE POLENTA & CARDAMOM BISCUITS | |
| 1 teaspoon cardamom pods | |
| ¼ teaspoon salt | |
| ¾ cup finely ground polenta | |
| ½ cup flour | |
| ¼ teaspoon baking powder | |
| 90g unsalted butter | |
| ⅓ cup caster sugar | |
| 1 egg, plus 1 small egg yolk | |
| FOR THE SPICED WALNUTS | |
| 1 cup walnuts | |
| 1 small egg white, lightly beaten | |
| 2 tablespoons raw caster sugar | |
| ½ teaspoon cinnamon | |
| ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper | |
| ¼ teaspoon salt | |
| FOR THE HONEY-ROASTED PEARS | |
| 2 pears | |
| 2 tablespoons lemon juice | |
| ¼ cup liquid honey | |
| ½ teaspoon vanilla paste |
Instructions
| 1. | FOR THE HONEY & YOGHURT CREAM |
| 2. | In a saucepan heat the cream, honey and agar agar to just before boiling. Cool slightly. |
| 3. | Whisk in the yoghurt until smooth. |
| 4. | Pour into four dessert bowls, cover and chill in the fridge for about 4 hours or overnight. |
| 5. | FOR THE SALTED CARAMEL COOKIE & COFFEE CRUMB |
| 6. | Break the cookie into small pieces, place in a food processor with the coffee grounds and process to an even crumb. |
| 7. | Store in the fridge until ready to use. |
| 8. | FOR THE POLENTA & CARDAMOM BISCUITS (MAKES 24) |
| 9. | Put the cardamom in a mortar and pestle and crush to release the seeds. Discard the green husks and roughly crush the black seeds with the salt. |
| 10. | Combine with the polenta, flour and baking powder. |
| 11. | Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. |
| 12. | Beat in the eggs a bit at a time, then stir in the dry ingredients until you have a smooth dough. |
| 13. | Form the dough into a log with a diameter of about 5-6cm. Wrap the dough in baking paper, twisting the ends. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. |
| 14. | Heat the oven to 180°C. |
| 15. | Cut the dough into slices about 1⁄2cm thick and lay out on a baking tray lined with baking paper. |
| 16. | Flatten each biscuit a little. |
| 17. | Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden around the edges. |
| 18. | Cool on a wire rack. |
| 19. | FOR THE SPICED WALNUTS |
| 20. | Heat the oven to 180°C. |
| 21. | Put the walnuts and egg white in a bowl and mix to coat. |
| 22. | Add the sugar, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and salt and stir. |
| 23. | Spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper (or grease the tray well). |
| 24. | Bake for 8-10 minutes stirring once. |
| 25. | Cool, then store in an airtight container. |
| 26. | FOR THE HONEY-ROASTED PEARS |
| 27. | Heat the oven to 200°C fan bake. |
| 28. | Slice each pear into 8 wedges and cut out the core. |
| 29. | Toss with the lemon juice, honey and vanilla. |
| 30. | Put into a baking dish that fits all the pears in one layer and pour over the honey mixture. |
| 31. | Bake for 10-12 minutes turning once, stirring in 1 or 2 tablespoons of water if the liquid is drying out too much (the amount will depend on the size of your dish; you want to be left with a bit of syrup to drizzle over the pears). |
| 32. | Add two wedges of pear to each bowl of yoghurt cream. |
| 33. | Drizzle with a little syrup, sprinkle over the crumb and serve with walnuts and biscuits. |
Recipes Fiona Smith, Jack O’Donnell / Food styling Fiona Smith / Photography Aaron McLean / Concept and art direction Fiona Lascelles / Image retouching Jason Creaghan / Background Fiodar Huseu / Alamy Stock Photo
Leave a Reply