Hen of the woods, autumn truffle custard, walnut, barley
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- Starter
- Medium
- 4
- 3 hours, plus cooling time
PT3H
This innovative dish from Gabriel Waterhouse plays with sweet and savoury flavours. A fragrant truffle custard is topped with a thin layer of caramelised demerera sugar, and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms (cultivated in the New Forest) are coated in a sticky tamari glaze.
Ingredients
Truffle Custard
- 300g of egg yolk
- 20g of cornflour
- 300g of double cream
- 10g of truffle , fresh or frozen, cut into pieces
- 15g of truffle oil
Pickled walnut reduction
- 1 jar of pickled walnuts, 390g
Tamari Glaze
- 250g of cane sugar
- 200ml of tamari
To finish
- 20ml of vegetable oil
- 50g of pearl barley
- salt
- 500g of hen-of-the-woods
- 100g of Demerara sugar
- 1 handful of walnut halves , for grating
Equipment
- Thermomix
Method
For the truffle custard, there are two methods. One for professional kitchens, which uses a Thermomix, and one for home kitchens, which doesn't. For a professional kitchen, first place all the ingredients into a Thermomix. Blend for 10 seconds then set the speed to 3.5 and cook at 95°C for 7-10 minutes until thickened. You have reached the right consistency when the custard begins to come away from the sides of the jug. It is important not to overcook the custard or the mixture will curdle
Once cooked, transfer to a container, cover with cling film and leave to cool
Once cool, place into a piping bag and store in the fridge
For home kitchens, first whisk the egg yolk and cornflour in a bowl until pale
- 300g of egg yolk
- 20g of cornflour
Blend the cream, truffle pieces and truffle oil for 10 seconds to break the truffle pieces
- 300g of double cream
- 10g of truffle , fresh or frozen, cut into pieces
- 15g of truffle oil
Boil the cream mixture and carefully pour over the egg yolks and cornflour and whisk to combine
Transfer to a heavy based pan, and over a medium heat whisk the mixture until thickened
Once cooked, transfer to a container and cover with cling film and leave to cool
Once cool, place into a piping bag and store in the fridge
For the pickled walnut reduction, empty the pickling liquid from a jar of pickled walnuts. Place into a pan over a medium heat and reduce by 90% to just a couple tablespoons
- 1 jar of pickled walnuts, 390g
Leave to cool and store in a container at room temperature
For the tamari glaze, place a quarter of the sugar into a heavy based pan and over a high heat bring to a caramel
- 200ml of tamari
- 62.5g of cane sugar
Once caramelised, add another quarter of the sugar and continue to caramelise
- 62.5g of cane sugar
Add the remaining sugar in two more stages and bring to a dark caramel
- 125g of cane sugar
Reduce the heat. Carefully add the tamari to the sugar in small quantities, whisking to combine the two as you go. Note - be careful to add the tamari slowly and in stages. The sugar is very hot and will splatter as you add the tamari
Once combined, leave to cool at room temperature
For the puffed barley, add the vegetable oil to a saucepan. Bring the oil to a smoking point, then drop the barley into the pan and stir. The grains will puff almost instantly, so keep a close eye on them to make sure the grain doesn’t burn
- 20ml of vegetable oil
- 50g of pearl barley
Season the puffed barley with fine sea salt, pour out onto paper towels and leave to cool
For the mushrooms, first preheat the oven to 165°C/gas mark 3
Break the mushroom into several large pieces (one or two pieces for each person)
- 500g of hen-of-the-woods
Dip each piece of mushroom into the tamari glaze coating the entire mushroom and place onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper
Bake for 10 minutes, then turn and coat the mushroom in the glaze from the tray again and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool
To serve, pipe the truffle custard onto the centre of a heatproof dish
Sprinkle demerara sugar to cover the surface of the custard and pour away any excess
- 100g of Demerara sugar
Using a kitchen blowtorch, caramelise the sugar to a golden brown colour. The sugar will set hard like the surface of a creme brulee
Reheat the mushrooms if needed, warming them in the oven for 5 minutes, and place these on top of the custard mounds
Sprinkle over a few grains of puffed barley and finish with a teaspoonful of pickled walnut reduction drizzled over the top. If the consistency of the reduction is too thick, it can be reheated and let down with a little water
Using a fine grater or microplane, grate a few walnuts over the top of the mushrooms and serve
- 1 handful of walnut halves , for grating
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Hen of the woods, autumn truffle custard, walnut, barley
