Compressed pineapple, sweet cicely ice cream

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Michael Wignall's pineapple and coconut dessert has a dizzying array of elements, including four types of gel, a coconut espuma, mint panna cotta and sweet cicely ice cream, to name but a few. All come together on the plate in a harmonious ode to tropical flavours.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Confit pineapple

  • 1 pineapple, peeled and cored
  • 40ml of Malibu
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • 50g of sugar
  • 150ml of water

Sweet cicely ice cream

  • 110ml of milk
  • 50g of sugar
  • 25g of milk powder
  • 5g of ice cream stabiliser
  • 10g of glucose powder
  • 2 gelatine leaves
  • 200g of sweet cicely

Mint panna cotta

  • 500ml of double cream
  • 200ml of milk
  • 400 fresh mint, picked
  • 45g of sugar
  • 1 1/2 gelatine leaves

Rum gel

  • 150ml of rum, preferably Appleton Estate 8 year
  • 100ml of water
  • ultratex

Bounty biscuit

Chocolate gel

  • 100g of 64% dark chocolate
  • 5g of glucose
  • 200ml of whipping cream
  • 100ml of milk
  • 1 gelatine leaf, soaked in iced water

Pineapple gel

Coconut gel

Compressed pineapple

  • 1 pineapple
  • 100ml of Malibu
  • 100ml of water
  • 20g of sugar

Sweet cicely oil

  • 100g of sweet cicely
  • 450ml of grapeseed oil

Coconut espuma

  • 400ml of milk
  • 50ml of rum
  • 100g of coconut purée
  • 15g of sugar
  • 30g of pro espuma

To plate

Equipment

  • Sous vide equipment
  • Pacojet or ice cream maker
  • Espuma gun
  • Blender
  • Muslin cloth
  • Sugar thermometer
  • Hand blender

Method

1
Dice the pineapple into small dice, roughly 0.5cm. Add all the ingredients into a small saucepan and cook over a very low heat for 4 hours until reduced to a glaze. You may need to add a little water from time to time to prevent it from catching
  • 40ml of Malibu
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • 50g of sugar
  • 150ml of water
  • 1 pineapple
2
To make the cicely ice cream, bring the milk and sugar to the boil, add the milk powder and stabiliser and cook at 85°C for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatine and sweet cicely. Leave to infuse for 2 hours
  • 110ml of milk
  • 50g of sugar
  • 25g of milk powder
  • 5g of ice cream stabiliser
  • 10g of glucose powder
  • 2 gelatine leaves
  • 200g of sweet cicely
3
Pass through a fine sieve into Pacojet containers and transfer to the freezer. Pacojet just before serving
4
To make the mint panna cotta, bring the milk and cream to the boil then remove from the heat and infuse with 200g of mint for 1 hour. Pass through a fine sieve and transfer the liquid to a blender. Blitz the remaining mint with the infused cream and pass through muslin cloth
  • 500ml of double cream
  • 200ml of milk
  • 400 fresh mint, picked
  • 45g of sugar
  • 1 1/2 gelatine leaves
5
In a small pan, warm the mint cream with the sugar, add the gelatine and stir until dissolved. Pass through a fine sieve and pour onto a tray to a depth of 3cm. Transfer to the fridge to set
6
For the rum gel, bring the rum to the boil with the water until the raw alcohol has cooked off. Whisk in the ultratex until thickened to a purée consistency. Transfer to the fridge for at least 1 hour to thicken
  • 150ml of rum, preferably Appleton Estate 8 year
  • 100ml of water
  • ultratex
7
To make the bounty biscuit, melt the chocolate and cocoa butter, stir in the feuilletine then roll between 2 layers of parchment paper to a thickness of 3mm. Transfer to the fridge
8
Blend the dessicated coconut to a powder and stir into the melted white chocolate and condensed milk. Spread onto the feuilletine layer very thinly. Transer to the freezer to set
9
For the chocolate gel, melt the chocolate over a bain marie. In a saucepan boil the cream, milk and glucose. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine before whisking in the chocolate. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and leave to cool before transferring into a piping bag
  • 100g of 64% dark chocolate
  • 5g of glucose
  • 200ml of whipping cream
  • 100ml of milk
  • 1 gelatine leaf, soaked in iced water
10
Dice the pineapple for the gel, discarding the tough woody middle. Blitz in a blender until smooth and pass through a sieve, retaining the pulp. In a small pan, caramelise the sugar and add the pineapple pulp. Cook until golden brown and a thick gel consistency
11
Make the coconut gel by bringing all of the ingredients to the boil for 1 minute then pouring onto a tray to set. Once it has set, blitz in a blender until smooth and pass through a fine sieve. Transfer to a piping bag
12
For the compressed pineapple, bring the Malibu, sugar and water to the boil then leave to cool
  • 60ml of Malibu
  • 150ml of water
  • 20g of sugar
13
Peel the pineapple, remove the core then portion the pineapple into 9cmx3cm rectangles. Transfer to vacuum bags, making sure the pieces are not overlapping. Compress the pineapple in the syrup and cook in a steamer at 100°C for 4 minutes. Refresh in iced water
14
To make the sweet cicely oil, heat the oil to 85°C then transfer to a blender with the sweet cicely. Blitz until smooth then pass through muslin cloth
  • 100g of sweet cicely
  • 450ml of grapeseed oil
15
For the coconut espuma, blend all of the ingredients together with a hand blender and transfer to a foam gun. Charge twice and reserve in the fridge until required
  • 100ml of milk
  • 50ml of rum
  • 100g of coconut purée
  • 15g of sugar
  • 30g of pro espuma
16
To serve, place a piece of compressed pineapple in the middle of the plate. Pipe dots of all of the gels around the pineapple. Place a scoop of mint panna cotta against the pineapple and a piece of bounty biscuit on top
17
Place a few pieces of confit pineapple around the plate and a swirl of the cicely oil. Garnish with mint cress. Finish with the coconut foam and a quenelle of ice cream
First published in 2015

Michael Wignall could have been a professional BMX biker. It was a fortunate day for foodies everywhere when he decided instead to work under legendary Northern chef Paul Heathcote.

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