Apple, Bergamot, Anise Blossom and Paztizz Tops Barquette

Ingredients

• 4 Granny Smith (or tart flavoured eating) apples
• Juice of a lemon

Ingredients of Apple and Bergamot Gel

• 30g bergamot juice
• 110g juice from the apples (with the lemon)
• 100g sugar
• 4g NH pectin (mix with the 20g sugar)
• 20g sugar (mix with the 4g pectin)
• 20g glucose
• 6 drops tartaric acid solution

Ingredients of Lemon sablé - makes 10-12 approx. small 8cm barquettes

• 20g caster sugar
• 20g butter (room temp)
• 5g potato starch
• 5g cornflour
• 37g plain flour
• ¼ g salt
• 10g eggs
• Zest of half lemon
• Teaspoonful of finely chopped Paztizz Tops

Ingredients of Apple Cream

• 100g double cream
• 20g of the apple and bergamot gel

Ingredients for garnish

• 1 punnet Anise Blossom
• Sprigs of Paztizz Tops
• The above apple gel
• The above apple cream
• The apple peel powder

Method

Method for preparing apples

• Peel the apples and reserve the peel. Place peel on the racks of a dehydrator and dry at 70C until crisp and brittle. Use a electric grinder (eg Magic Bullet) to grind to a powder.
• Chop two of the apples in to brunoise and toss in half of the lemon juice.
• Juice the other two apples, add the other half of lemon juice to this apple juice.

Method for preparing the gel

• Place the 110g juice from the apples (combined with the lemon juice) in a pan with the bergamot juice and the 100g sugar.
• As the juice is warmed up, rain the pectin and 20g sugar combination while stirring.
• Bring to the boil, add the glucose, then cook to 103C.
• Pour half of this in to a container and set aside to cool.

Method for cooking the apples

• Place the other half of the apple gel plus the brunoise apple in a pan, and heat.
• Bring to boiling point, and when the apple is cooked but still firm, pass through a sieve reserving the liquid (the juice from the brunoise apple will thin the gel to liquid).
• Let the brunoise apple cool, while reducing the liquid back to a gel like consistency at 103C. Let cool and stir back into the cooked apple brunoise to create a compôte. Let cool completely.

Method for Sablé

• Place sugar, butter, potato starch, cornflour, flour and salt in a food processor and blitz until resembling breadcrumbs.
• Add the egg and process again until it forms a dough while adding the lemon zest and chopped Paztizz tops. Gather dough together, wrap and chill it for an hour.
• Roll out dough to 2mm thick, cut in to suitable size to finely line the barquette moulds.
• Chill for 15 minutes, then bake until just light golden brown (160ºC fan), approx. 10 minutes.
• Cool, then keep in an airtight box until ready to serve.

Method for the Apple Cream

• Whip the cream, warm the apple gel to max 25C and whisk together.

Assembling the barquette

• Fill the barquette with the apple compote, pipe the apple cream on top decoratively, pipe on dots of apple gel, and finish with the Anise Blossom and Paztizz Tops. Sprinkle with the apple peel powder.

Chef: Shona Sutherland