Mount Tamborine Gingerbread, Honey, Black Pear and Rhubarb - Chef Recipe by Luke Wakefield

Ingredients

Black Pear Coulis:

10 pears, peeled
Pinch xanthan gum
Sea salt

Pickled Ginger:

200 g vinegar
200 g sugar
200 g water
10 g Mountain Pepperberry

Ginger Gel :

100 g ginger pickling liquid
10 g agar

Soft Gingerbread Cake:

For the sponge:

110 g unsalted butter, softened
160 g caster sugar
90 g Golden syrup
1 egg, large
60 g buttermilk
200 g plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tsp ground ginger -ensure fresh ground – see notes
1/2 tsp flaked salt or ¼ tsp fine salt
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract

For baking tray lining:

1 tsp butter, melted
1 Tbs flour

Ginger Glaze:

100 g ginger
1 kg sugar
500 g water
50 g Cointreau
2 vanilla beans

Rhubarb Ice Cream:

14 rhubarb stalks, juiced to 1 1/4 cups.
1 vanilla bean, split seed removed, reserve seeds
1/2 cup sugar PLUS 1 Tbs sugar
3 1/2 Tbs dessert wine
5 egg yolks
5 Tbs butter

Honey Gel:

1 L water
500 g honey
40 g agar

Method

Black Pear Coulis:

Place pears into a vacuum bag then seal at full pressure.

Put into a hot chamber at 60 C for 6 weeks.

After the 6 weeks, place pears into the blender with a touch of xanthan gum and season with salt. Keep warm.

Pickled Ginger:

Bring the ingredients to a boil and let it steep until it reached 70 C.

Pour over very thinly sliced ginger then let pickle for at least three days.

Ginger Gel:

Drain the pickling liquid from the pickled ginger.

Bring to the boil and activate.

Allow to set then process to a gen.

Remove air under the vacuum and store chilled until required.

Soft Gingerbread Cake:

Cream the butter, caster sugar and Golden syrup. Reserve.

Combine the egg and buttermilk. Reserve.

In a separate bowl, sift all of the remaining ingredients.

In 3 batches, add to the creamed butter, in alternate additions, the liquid and the dry ingredients until just combined.

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Brush with melted butter then dust with flour.

Add the cake batter and smooth over the surface.

Bake at 140 C for 1 hour or until just cooked.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before brushing liberally with the ginger syrup. Store remaining syrup for future use. Keep cool.

Trim the sides of the cake, cover then refrigerate until required. Reserve trimming.

When preparing to serve, remove from the fridge one hour in advance.

Dry the cake trimmings in a very low temperature oven until completely dried.

Crumb to use in the Honey Cake Cream.

Gingerbread Glaze:

Combine all ingredients and bring to the boil.

Cook to 103 C then remove from the heat. Retain.

Rhubarb Ice Cream:

Place the juice into a small saucepan with the vanilla seeds, sugar and dessert wine.

Simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat then cool to 60 C.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks then gradually pour over the above liquid.

Return to the pan and using a stick blender, gradually emulsify the butter into the syrup.

Return the pan to medium heat and whisk until it reaches 80 C.

Set over a bowl, sitting on ice, pass through a fine sieve. Continue to stir until chilled.

Process in an ice cream maker then set aside in the freezer until serving.

Honey Gel:

Combine ingredients together then bring to the boil.

Allow to set then process to a fluid gel, strain and removed air through a vacuum.

Reserve in icing bags. Chill.

To Serve:

Cut the cake into desired portions and place onto a serving plate.

Pipe the gingerbread cream over the cake then decorate the cream with dots of the ginger gel and honey gel.

To the side, add a few slices of pickled ginger and a squirt of black pear puree.

Place a scoop of ice cream.

Serve.

Recipe provided by Homage Restaurant