Ingredients (serves 6)
For the meringue:
- 250 g of sugar
- 125 g of egg whites
- 65 g of cold water
- 1 Tahitian vanilla bean pod 50 g of pearl sugar
- 50 g of dark chocolate
- 50 g of caramel for the garnishing
For the licorice ice cream:
- 250 g of granulated sugar
- 250 ml of milk
- 250 ml of fresh cream
- 250 ml of double cream
- 50 g of ground Brogno licorice
For the passion fruit sauce:
- 300 g of passion fruit
- 100 g of granulated sugar
For the garnishing:
- 6 lavender stems
- 50 g of red currants
- 50 g of blueberries
Procedure
Prepare the meringue: pour the water in a small saucepan with the sugar and bring it to 121°C, checking it with a thermometer. In the meantime, mount the egg whites in a stand mixer. When they are well mounted and rm, pour the syrup over them and keep stirring until the mixture has cooled completely. Put the meringue you’ve just prepared in a pastry bag and use it to ll some small silicon molds. Then sprinkle the pearl sugar on top and cook in the oven for 6 hours at 60°C.
Prepare the ice cream: pour the milk and the two types of cream in a small saucepan, add the ground licorice and the sugar, and heat the mixture on the stove. Bring it to a boil, turn off the heat and let it cool completely before pouring it into the ice cream machine. Work the ice cream following the instructions, then leave it in the freezer until serving time.
Prepare the passion fruit sauce: take the pulp of the passion fruits, filter it through a strainer to eliminate the seeds, and pour the juice in a saucepan with the sugar. Heat it on the stove and let it cook for about 5 minutes, the time it takes the sugar to melt and the juice to reduce.
Take more pyramid-shaped silicon molds, larger than the ones used for the meringues, and brush the inside with the chocolate, previously melted with a bain-marie, to create a shell. Let them cool in the fridge for about 2 minutes, then turn them out. Then use the same molds to create a caramel basket to put the ice cream in: heat the caramel until it reaches 160°C, then pour it in a parchment paper cone and cut the tip off. Let it drip slowly on the outer side of the molds so as to form a small net. Let it cool until it has set, then take it off the molds.
Plate: take a deep dish and place the chocolate shell in the center and, on top of it, the caramel basket with a scoop of licorice ice cream. Place 2 meringues on it and use a lavender stem to keep them in place. Garnish with the currants and the blueberries, and finish it off with the passion fruit sauce.
Wine
This complex dessert, offering very different sensations of taste and smell, requires a wine just as full-bodied and rich in aroma: I suggest a very fragrant Malvasia delle Lipari.
