INGREDIENTS
(serves four)
4 sheets brick pastry
25g soft butter
25g caster sugar
½ an egg
20g ground hazelnuts
50g ground almonds
20g crème pâtissière
10g flour
½ tbs eau-de-vie de poire
2 poached pears
30g granulated sugar
For the confit chicory
30g chicory beans
200g water
350g sugar
For the chicory ice-cream
200ml cream
125ml single
25 soluble chicory
6 egg yolks
120g caster sugar
For the caramel sauce
60g caster sugar
125g double cream
METHOD
Boil the chicory beans, water and sugar until water has evaporated. Cool on a marble slab and then process to a fine powder.
To make the ice-cream, boil cream and soluble chicory, pour on to egg yolks and sugar (whisked to the ribbon). Return to the pan and cook out. Pass through a chinois, add ground chicory to taste and churn in an ice-cream machine.
To make the caramel sauce, melt the sugar gently and then boil to caramel, add the cream. Make the croustillants by taking the feuille de brick and cutting each sheet into a cross to make a parcel. All edges should be about 6cm. Spoon some of the almond mixture (combine caster sugar, eggs, hazelnuts, almonds,crème pâtissière, flour, eau-de-vie) in the centre of the cross. Put a quarter of a fanned poachedpear on top and a little more almond mix.
Enclose by folding over each flap. Bake at 180ºC for 10 to 12 minutes. Slice remaining pear and caramelise with 30g granulated sugar. In the centre of a plate, pour some caramel sauce, put the croustillant on top and then a ball of ice-cream. Decorate with caramelised pear.
Simon Rogan