"Ice-cream, gelato, sorbet, sherbet… I love them all," says Jordan Toft of Bert's. "Even when you think you're full, I feel you'll find room for this, a dessert using the last of the season's mandarins, infused with chamomile for a refreshing contrast. The yoghurt sorbet centre is inspired by the Creamsicle pops I had in the US; here it's made more adult with the addition of sponge and toasted meringue." Begin this recipe a day ahead to freeze the slice.
Jordan Toft's mandarin and yoghurt frozen slice
Part sorbet, part gelato, part meringue. This slice has it all.
- 1 hr 30 mins preparation
- 40 mins cooking plus cooling, freezing, infusing
- Serves 10
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Ingredients
Almond dacquoise
- 30 gm eggwhite (about 1 egg)
- 20 gm caster sugar
- 30 gm (¼ cup) almond meal
- 20 gm pure icing sugar, sifted
Mandarin & chamomile sorbet
- 2 kg mandarins (see note)
- 2 tsp loose-leaf chamomile tea
- 150 gm liquid glucose
- 75 gm (⅓ cup) caster sugar
Yoghurt sorbet
- 75 gm (⅓ cup) caster sugar
- 45 ml light corn syrup (see note)
- 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
- 320 gm Greek-style yoghurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Meringue
- 120 gm caster sugar
- 60 gm eggwhite (about 2 eggs)
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
Method
- 1For almond dacquoise, preheat oven to 175°C and line a 9cm x 23cm greased loaf tin with Go-Between (see note). Draw a 9cm x 23cm rectangle on baking paper and invert onto a baking tray. Whisk eggwhite and caster sugar in an electric mixer to almost stiff peaks (5-7 minutes). Fold in almond meal, then icing sugar. Spoon onto baking paper, spread evenly with a spatula to marked lines and bake until golden (10-15 minutes). Cool, then place in tin, trimming to fit base. Chill in freezer until needed.
- 2For mandarin and chamomile sorbet, peel and juice mandarins, (or blend in a blender), then strain through a sieve, pushing to extract all the juice. Bring 750ml juice and tea to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Strain. Bring glucose, sugar and 2 tbsp water to the boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cool, then add juice, stirring well to make sure glucose is dissolved, then churn in an ice-cream machine until frozen. Spread half the sorbet over dacquoise base, cover with Go-Between and freeze until set (1 hour; freeze remaining sorbet in a container).
- 3For yoghurt sorbet, bring sugar, corn syrup, vanilla bean and seeds and 150ml water to the boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cool, whisk in yoghurt and lemon juice, then strain through a sieve. Churn in ice-cream machine until frozen, then spread evenly over mandarin sorbet. Cover with Go-Between and freeze until firm (1 hour).
- 4Spread remaining mandarin sorbet evenly over yoghurt sorbet, cover with Go-Between, and freeze until set (8 hours or overnight).
- 5For meringue, place sugar and 60ml water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve, then boil until syrup reaches 110°C on a sugar thermometer (5-10 minutes). Meanwhile, whisk eggwhite in an electric mixer, whisking until syrup reaches 120°C (1-2 minutes). With the motor on medium speed, slowly pour syrup into eggwhite and whisk until firm, glossy and almost cooled (7-10 minutes). Whisk in cream of tartar and transfer to a piping bag with a 6mm-7mm star nozzle. Pipe meringue in a spiral pattern down one side of plates, then burnish with a blowtorch. Cut frozen slice into 2cm-thick pieces with a wet knife and serve next to meringue.
Notes
Choose mandarins with dark orange flesh such as honey murcott. Corn syrup is available from select delicatessens and essentialingredient.com.au. Go-Between, a high-grade freezer plastic used to keep food from sticking, is available from select supermarkets.
Drink suggestion: A sweet but zesty and refreshing riesling touched by noble rot, such as 2013 Friends of Punch "Noble" from Gippsland, Victoria. Drink suggestion by Adrian Filiuta.
