We have a delicious festive recipe for you to try from Jenny Flynn – Executive Chef at Faithlegg Hotel.
This gingerbread, clementine and cranberry meringue pie is ideal if you want to create an indulgent dessert for when guests visit, or as a treat for yourself!
Let us know how you get on. From Jenny…
This dessert is a twist on a meringue pie with a gingerbread Swiss roll base, mousse filling and toasted meringue top. It is full of festive flavour with gingerbread, white chocolate, cranberries, citrus and a soaking of Faithlegg Gin.
Swiss Roll Base
When making this dessert I made a classic Swiss roll but added the elements of gingerbread for that unique festive flavour.
Ingredients:
3 eggs separated
75g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
75g dark brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon
a pinch of all spice a pinch of ginger
a pinch of nutmeg.
Stock syrup
Ingredients:
250g sugar
100ml water
50ml Faithlegg Gin.
Bring to the boil and keep to drizzle over your Swiss roll for the base.
Method:
Preheat oven to 200c and line a Swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper.
Put the egg whites into a large clean dry bowl add the pinch of salt. Beat until mixture is stiff and dry looking in appearance.
Add the sugar bit by bit and continue beating until thick and shiny.
Beat in the egg yolks until holds a figure of 8.
Sieve the flour and remaining spices gradually fold into the egg mixture with a metal spoon.
Transfer to the tin and spread evenly. Bake for 10mins remove from oven lay a sheet of greaseproof paper with a little dusting of cinnamon and caster sugar on the work surface.
When the cake is baked turn it onto the paper. Remove the lining paper and trim the edges with a sharp knife, roll the cake up from its longest edge with the paper inside – leave it to cool.
When cold, gently unroll and remove the greaseproof paper, dust with coco powder and drizzle with gin syrup. Roll again tightly with the aid of cling film and place in freezer.
Clementine and white chocolate mousse
Ingredients:
110g pasteurised egg yolks
50g cream (to dissolve gelatine and clementine zest)
1 gelatine sheet, bloomed in ice water
250g white chocolate
50g caster sugar
Water as needed
100g egg whites
375g cream, whipped to soft peaks.
3 clementine’s (zested and segmented)
A shot of Cointreau.
Method:
Whip the egg yolks with the whisk attachment in a mixer until they are pale yellow and reach ribbon stage.
Bring the 50g of cream to the boil, add the zest bloomed gelatine sheet and stir until dissolved.
Pour the mixture over the milk and chocolate to make a ganache.
Put the sugar in a small pot and pour in just enough water to cover. Heat and bring to a temperature of 120°C – add the Cointreau.
Whip the egg whites to soft peaks and in a steady stream pour in the hot sugar syrup to make an Italian meringue.
Assemble the mousse by folding the whipped yolks into the chocolate ganache, followed by the warm Italian meringue and lastly the whipped cream. Do not over-mix. Pour the mousse into a large bowl and place in the fridge. You will need the mouse to be chilled for about 20mins to hold the Swiss roll in place for our trifle.
Orange curd
Ingredients:
2 large egg yolks
1 orange (zest and juice)
75g caster sugar
25g cold butter.
Method:
In a saucepan, add in the egg yolks and the caster sugar, then whisk until smooth and combined.
Zest and juice the orange and add it to pot. Whisk till everything is combined.
Turn on the gas to a medium heat and cook slowly whilst stirring with a wooden spoon until the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in your cold butter, one cube at a time, until you end up with a thick and smooth curd!
Leave to cool in the pot, then store in a sterilised glass jar up to a month.
Cranberry jelly
This is quite easy so don’t stress if it doesn’t set solid. You want it to be compote texture, this is lovely with turkey too!!
Cranberries are naturally full of pectin so no need to add extra pectin.
Ingredients:
500g cranberries. I put them in the freezer to burst the skins
200g sugar
100g wate
100g cranberry juice
Juice and zest of 1 clementine.
Method:
Simply bring to the boil and store in a Kilner jar until ready to assemble.
Meringue
For the meringue, I am using an Italian meringue, so the secret with this recipe is to get the sugar at the correct temperature and to allow the mixture to go completely cold when whisking.
Ingredients:
360g sugar
100g water
6 med egg whites
A sugar thermometer
A pastry brush.
Method:
Put the sugar and water into a heavy based pan and cook over a medium heat, it will need to reach 121c so it will take a while. Keep brushing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush and water, to stop the sugar from burning on the side of the pan.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites in a grease free bowl until soft peaks are formed.
Turn down the speed of the whisk, slowly pour in the sugar syrup (not allowing it to hit the whisk) in a steady stream. When all the sugar syrup is in, continue to whisk at a low speed until mixture is complete cold. It will be shiny and firm.
This will keep in a fridge for a day in an airtight container.
Assembly:
You could do one big one, but it is easier to do individual glasses as well.
Remove the Swiss roll from the freezer, slice at about 1cm thickness and put into the base of each glass going up the sides.
Pipe in the chocolate mousse to hold in place, allow to set in a fridge for about 45mins.
When just set, pipe the orange curd in a circle around the glass leaving space to put the cranberry and clementine jelly in the centre.
Spoon in the cranberry jelly. Spoon the Italian meringue onto the top and blowtorch the top to give the snowcapped mountain effect.
Festive greetings and I hope you enjoy!
