Roasted rhubarb, orange and crystallised puff pastry - Graham Hornigold

1 vanilla pod, seeds removed

Graham Hornigold 's beautiful rhubarb dessert recipe makes a colourful pud to usher in the spring , pairing sweet and tart rhubarb with a crisp crystallised puff pastry and some glazed orange segments

Ingredients

Rhubarb jus

• 1kg of rhubarb , frozen
• 100g of icing sugar

Roasted rhubarb

• 5 sticks of rhubarb

Orange-infused sugar

• 200g of water
• 200g of sugar
• 1 orange
• caster sugar

Crystallised puff pastry

• 200g of puff pastry, all butter
• icing sugar

Orange segments

• 1 orange , cut into segments
• 1 tbsp of orange juice

Vanilla Chantilly

• double cream
• 1 vanilla pod
• icing sugar

To serve

• coriander cress
• viola flowers
• vanilla ice cream , premium

Method

1.

Begin by making the rhubarb jus. Combine all of the ingredients in a heatproof bowl, cover with cling film and place over a pan of barely simmering water. Leave to soften for 45-60 minutes, so the rhubarb releases plenty of juice

2.

Pour the softened rhubarb into a chinois strainer lined with 4 layers of muslin, allowing all the clear juice to strain through. Leave to strain naturally overnight, without pushing or applying pressure. When ready, refrigerate until required

3.

Make the orange sugar by combining water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stir until dissolved and remove from the heat

4.

Peel the zest from the orange, taking care to remove all of the white pith. Place into a separate saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Strain and repeat this process twice more, before adding the zest to the sugar syrup in a separate saucepan

5.

Allow the syrup and zest to simmer gently for 30 minutes, before straining and placing on a tray lined with silicone paper. Reserve a small amount of the zest for garnish and de-hydrate the remainder until completely dry. Alternatively, place in the oven on a very low heat overnight

6.

Combine the dried orange zest with caster sugar in a spice grinder using the ratio of 1 part zest: 3 parts sugar (in grams). Blitz to create the spiced orange sugar and set aside until required

7.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

8.

To roast the rhubarb, place the rhubarb sticks in a small oven tray and pour over 100ml of the jus. Cover the tray with tin foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. When roasted and still slightly firm, set aside to cool, reserving 1 rhubarb stick for the purée

9.

Make the purée by blitzing the reserved rhubarb stick and dash of the poaching liquor in a blender. Blend on a high speed, adding a little more of the liquor until the purée is very smooth. Pass through a fine strainer and store in a squeeze bottle until required

10.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7

11.

To make the pastry garnish, roll the puff pastry to a thickness of 5mm. Dust with icing sugar and place in the fridge to chill and rest for 10 minutes. Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes until light and golden brown in colour

12.

While the pastry cools slightly, preheat the oven to 250°C/gas mark 9

13.

Cut the pastry to the required shapes and sizes, dust heavily with icing sugar, and place into the preheated oven until the sugar becomes a deep caramel - take care not to let them burn

14.

While the sugar in the puff pastry is still hot and sticky, sprinkle the pastry with the infused orange sugar while it is still hot from the oven, and set to one side

Citrus segment

Use a knife to remove the top and bottom from the chosen citrus fruit. Place the fruit flat on the board. Use the tip of the knife to remove the peel and pith, being careful to retain as much of the flesh as possible. Switch to a paring knife, hold the fruit in your hand and run the knife alongside each membrane, separating the flesh segments/wedges. After all segments have been removed, squeeze the juice from the remaining fruit over the segments to preserve

16.

Prepare the Chantilly cream by combining the cream, vanilla and sugar in a bowl and whisking to form medium peaks. Transfer to a piping bag and refrigerate until required

17.

To serve, cut the sticks of roast rhubarb in to 8cm batons, using any off-cuts for smaller decorative pieces. Divide the prepared rhubarb evenly between 4 plates. Slice the glazed orange segments in half and divide between the plates along with the reserved orange zest from step 5

18.

Pipe small dots of the Chantilly cream around the plate. Finally, add a rocher of vanilla ice cream, some violet petals, coriander cress and the crystallised puff pastry. Serve immediately

Corney & Barrow matching wine

Find out why Corney & Barrow match this Rhubarb dessert recipe with a sweet white wine

Source: http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/rhubarb-dessert-recipe