This is where I am showing my age again!
I used to drink sherry on ice many moons ago, so when I saw this recipe on Mindfood recently (see here) it immediately brought back so many wonderful memories.
Add to that my love for anything “custardy”, and you can then appreciate why I had to trial this recipe.
The custard itself is absolutely delicious served cold on its own, or served with other desserts or cakes. If doing this then pour the hot custard into a container, top it with plastic wrap lightly pressed onto the surface to stop a skin forming, and leave for an hour to cool on the bench. Once it has cooled, cover the container and place into the fridge to get completely cold. When it is completely cold, stir the custard well and it will loosen up enough to pour thickly into a bowl, or serve alongside a yummy dessert. It keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days so this can be done in advance.
The prunes are best made a few days ahead so they have time to plump up and become a “syrupy”. The recipe makes more than you need, but leftovers are a wonderful indulgent treat to have on your breakfast oatmeal (true!), or served with vanilla ice-cream or cream.
The custard is quite rich, so I suggest using 150g per glass giving you 6 serves from this recipe. This is of course totally up to you, so you can either reduce the serves to 4 giving more per serve, or prepare a second batch and have the leftovers yourself. As the custard keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days (we consumed it in this time, but I suspect it would be fine for up to a week), this is a great “make ahead” dessert.
For a little crunch I served a few Maple Roasted Pecans (see here) on top of each dessert, and these can also be made ahead as they keep well in the fridge for up to a month.
All in all I think this is a great dessert option for the festive season, but for me I am happy to serve it any time of the year!
- 400g dry sherry
- 100g golden caster sugar, or white sugar
- 250g pitted prunes (allow at least 3 per person … there will be leftovers)
- Zest of 1 large orange, or 2 small oranges
- Zest of 1 large lemon, or 2 small lemons
- 380g full fat cream
- 380g full fat milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 100g light muscovado sugar, or brown sugar
- 40g white spelt flour, or plain flour
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or more to taste (I use 2 tsps)
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt flakes, or ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Place sherry and sugar into a saucepan
- Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves – this won’t take long, just a couple of minutes, stir until you can no longer see sugar crystals on the base of the pot
- Add prunes, bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes
- Remove and allow to cool completely in the saucepan
- Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to two weeks
- Place zests, cream and milk into TM bowl and cook 8 minutes / 90 / speed 2
- Allow to infuse for 10 minutes in the TM bowl before straining through a sieve into a separate container to remove solids – discard solids
- Clean TM bowl and insert butterfly
- Add egg yolks and sugar to TM bowl and mix 2 minutes / 37 / speed 4, scrape around bowl to collect any yolk on the sides, then continue for 3 minutes / 37/ speed 4 to make light and fluffy
- Remove butterfly, add the strained liquid and blend 10 seconds / speed 4 to combine
- Add the flour, vanilla, salt and cinnamon and cook 8 minutes / 80 / speed 4, then continue for a final 1 minute / 90 / speed 4
- While the crèma is cooking, get your serving glasses ready, and have a tray handy to put them onto once they are filled
- As soon as the crèma is cooked pour it into a jug to make it easier to dispense into your glasses, and have a flexible spatula handy to stir the mix as you pour (see next step)
- Pour 150g into each glass (I use a digital scale to help me proportion evenly) and after you dispense the crèma into each glass, stir the crèma in the jug with the spatula before pouring into the next glass to keep it fluid and runny so that is pours easily and cleanly
- Place small pieces of Gladwrap directly onto the surface of each crèma to prevent a skin forming
- Place glasses onto a tray and allow to cool for an hour, then refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving
- To serve, place 3 to 4 prunes on top of each crèma, pour a little of the prune syrup over the top of the prunes, then sprinkle on a few maple roasted pecans if using
- If you wish you can serve extra prunes in a small bowl on the table for guests to help themselves to if they want more (like me!)
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