Sbrisolona with spiced crema Catalana and orange compote

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Sbrisolona is a classic almond cake from Mantua in Italy, and here it's topped with a spiced aerated custard and a sherry and orange compote.

This dish was the winning dessert in the UK finals of the 2021 Copa Jerez competition, which seeks out the best three-course menu to go perfectly with a range of sherry wines. It was created by chef Vincenzo Raffone along with sommelier Mattia Mazzi especially for the competition.

First published in 2021

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Sbrisolona

Custard

Compote

  • 2 oranges
  • 50g of sherry, Apostoles variety

To serve

Method

1
Begin with the custard. Place all the ingredients apart from the eggs and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat, cover with cling film and set aside to infuse for 30 minutes
2
Meanwhile, blend the almonds and sugar together to create a powder. Transfer to a mixing bowl, then stir in the flour, cornmeal, lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt. Incorporate the butter a little at a time, stirring well to ensure it is fully combined. Finally, stir in the egg yolk
3
Preheat an oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Transfer the cakes to 4 small circular cake moulds and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, then leave to cool
4
After the cream has finished infusing, strain through a fine sieve (discarding the solids) into a clean pan and gently bring to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Pour a little of the hot cream into the eggs to temper them, then return the egg mixture to the pan of cream. Gently heat, stirring regularly, until the mixture reaches 83°C. Remove from the heat and leave to cool
5
For the orange compote, segment the oranges, reserving the centre piece. Squeeze the centre pieces into a pan to get as much juice out as possible, then pour in the sherry. Bring to a simmer, then reduce until syrupy. Add the orange segments, cook for a few more minutes, then set aside to cool
6
To serve, remove the cakes from their moulds and place on 4 plates. Pour the cooled custard into a siphon gun and charge with 1 gas canister (this is optional – you can simply serve the custard as is if you don’t have a siphon). Leave the charged custard to rest for a few minutes, then squirt it all over the cake to cover it completely. Finish with a few syrup-coated orange segments, some grated dark chocolate and a little black pepper
First published in 2021

Vincenzo is a chef with years of experience, who won the Copa Jerez competition in 2021 with sommelier Mattia Mazzi.

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