Bilberry and Apple Dessert Recipe

This striking dessert recipe from Michael Wignall sings the praises of a too often overlooked British fruit - the bilberry. The vibrancy and flavour of the apple sorbet comes from using apple peelings - but be warned - 300g of apple skins equates to roughly 35 apples, so unless you have a way to get your hands on this quantity of peelings, use a mixture of flesh and peel instead.

Apple sorbet

300g of apple, skins only
200g of sugar
50g of glucose
500g of water
9g of sorbet stabiliser
1 lemon, juiced

Bilberry juice and jelly

1kg bilberries
60g of icing sugar
2.4g of agar agar

Meringue

190g of egg white
190g of caster sugar
150g of icing sugar

Salted granola

200g of oats
100g of pumpkin seeds
200g of macadamia nuts
50g of pine nuts
5g of salt
60g of honey
20g of maple syrup

Apple gel

6 Granny Smith apples
agar agar

To plate

50g of freeze-dried yoghurt
100g of bilberries
100g of bilberries, dried
apple marigold, for garnish

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Pacojet or ice cream maker
Steam oven or steamer
Vac pac maker
8cm cutter
Piping bag and nozzle
Blender

For the apple sorbet, blitz all of the ingredients together in a blender until smooth and transfer to a Pacojet container. Place in the freezer to freeze solid and blitz in the Pacojet just before serving

300g of apple , skins olny
200g of sugar
50g of glucose
500g of water
9g of sorbet stabiliser
1 lemon , juiced

Preheat a steam oven to 100°C

Mix together the bilberries and sugar. Vacuum seal and steam in the oven for 30 minutes - if your oven doesn’t have a steamer setting a regular steamer will work just as well

1kg bilberries
60g of icing sugar

Cut open the bag and tip the contents into a sieve set over a measuring jug

Boil 200ml of the juice with the agar agar for 1 minute, pour onto a tray at a thickness of 0mm and leave to set in the fridge. Cut out with a 8cm diameter ring and transfer onto baking parchment to store

2.4g of agar agar

Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas mark 2

To make the meringues, whisk the egg whites and caster sugar to soft peaks then gradually add the icing sugar. Mix for a further 10 minutes until very stiff then transfer to a piping bag

190g of egg white
190g of caster sugar
150g of icing sugar

Line a flat tray with parchment paper and pipe the meringue into domes approximately 6cm in diameter. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour until crispy then leave to cool. Turn the oven up to 170°C/gas mark 4

Once cool, turn the meringues upside down and very carefully scoop out the middle so you are left with a basket. Reserve

To make the salted granola, bake the dry ingredients together for 10 minutes then mix in the rest of the ingredients and bake for a further 10 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool then chop into small pieces and reserve

100g of pumpkin seeds
200g of macadamia nuts
20g of maple syrup
50g of pine nuts
5g of salt
60g of honey
200g of oats

To make the apple gel, juice the apples and weigh the juice. For every 100ml of juice use 1.1g of agar agar, mix together and bring to the boil. Pour into a tray to set and transfer to the fridge. When completely set, blitz in a blender until smooth and pass through a fine sieve

6 Granny Smith apples
agar agar

To serve, place a circle of jelly on the bottom of each plate. Scatter over the crumble, bilberries and freeze-dried yoghurt and pipe around dots of the gel. Place a meringue basket on top and fill with more crumble and gel. Add a scoop of apple sorbet and garnish with the apple marigold

50g of freeze-dried yoghurt
apple marigold , for garnish
100g of bilberries , dried
100g of bilberries

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Michael Wignall

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.

Bilberry, meringue, Granny Smith sorbet and salted granola

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