Lemon cream, almonds and white peaches
Lemon custard, a yoghurt, lime and green tea sorbet, polenta and almond lemon drizzle cake, served with almond crumble, salted almond caramel, peach puree, roasted peaches and apple blossom.
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes plus 1 hour setting time
Serves 4
Lemon cream
160ml juice of Sorrento lemons (approx. 6 lemons)
Zest of 1 Sorrento lemon
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
150g caster sugar
200ml double cream
Polenta & almond lemon drizzle cake
200g soft butter
200g caster sugar
Zest of two lemons
Juice of two lemons
2 eggs
200g ground almonds
100g fine polenta
50g plain flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
Topping for lemon drizzle cake:
Juice of 1 lemon
25g caster sugar
25g water
Peaches
1kg of white peaches
50g sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
0.5g agar agar
1 tablespoon caster sugar for glazing the peach cubes
Crumble
150g flour
150g ground almonds
2g sea salt
150g hard butter
150g caster sugar
Sorbet
250g castor
Zest of 2 limes
2 bags of green tea
25g Trimoline (inverted sugar)
500mls natural yoghurt
Caramelised almonds
100g caster sugar
200g whole blanched almonds
Ingredients
Apple blossom and segments from 1 lemon for garnishing the plate
Lemon cream
1) Add the lemon zest to the lemon juice and bring to the boil, reduce to 80mls
2) Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar.
3) Add the double cream to the reduced lemon juice and bring to the boil
4) Boil and pour over the egg mixture and pass through a chinos
5) Skim off foam and cook in a metal tray lined with cling film at 100c for 40 minutes, or until it has set.
6) Place in a fridge for one hour or until cold and set
Polenta & almond lemon drizzle cake
1) Mix the butter, caster sugar and zest of two lemons with a paddle until fluffy
2) Add the eggs, one by one
3) Mix in the lemon juice along with the ground almonds, fine polenta and plain flour
4) Mix in the baking powder and put the mixture in a metal baking tray lined with greaseproof paper
5) Cook at 140 for 25-30 minutes
6) To make the topping, heat together in a pan the lemon juice, caster sugar and water. Bring to the boil and then drizzle over the cake once cooked, when it is still warm.
Peaches
1) Blanche the peaches whole in boiling water for about 10 seconds until the skin starts to come away. Chill in iced water.
2) Peel them, cut in half and remove the stones, use half for the puree and half for the roasted garnish.
3) Add half the peaches to a pan with 100ml water, 50g sugar and the lemon juice and cook until it becomes a puree, this should take about 20 minutes.
4) Add 0.5g agar agar to this mixture. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Bring back to boil and blitz in a thermo mix. Set in a tray and then put into the fridge for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes re-blitz and pass through a fine sieve
5) Cut the other peaches into 1cm cubes and roast off with a little bit of caster sugar in a pan for 1 minute.
Crumble
1) Put the flour, ground almonds, salt, butter and sugar in a food processor and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs
2) Put the mixture in a baking tray and cook at 170c for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown
Sorbet
1) Boil 250ml water with the sugar, Trimoline, lime zests, bags of green tea and infuse for 10 minutes
2) Strain through a sieve, mix in the natural yoghurt and churn in an ice cream machine, for 30 – 40 minutes until frozen.
Caramelised almonds
1) Caramelise sugar in a pan and add the almonds, making sure they’re coated in the caramel.
2) Separate the almonds on a silicone mat.
Lemon segments
1) Cut the top and bottom off 1 lemon and remove the skin
2) Cut into segments and then into 1cm dice
Plating up method
1) Spread a spoonful of the crumble randomly on the plate
2) Cut the lemon cream into 8cm length and 2cm width. Sprinkle with a little castor sugar and blow touch until golden caramel and place the lemon cream in the centre of the plate
3) Cut the cake into 2cm cubes and place three pieces randomly on the plate. This should be served at room temperature
4) Place 5 pieces of the lemon dice and the roasted peach across the plate
5) Using a squeezy bottle, place 5 dots of puree on the plate, putting a few on top of the cake
6) Place 5 caramelised almonds randomly on the plate
7) Put a scoop of sorbet on top of the lemon cream in the centre
8) Garnish with apple blossom