Chefs' Recipes

Sean McConnell's rhubarb, strawberry and pink peppercorn crumble with chamomile ice-cream

Recipe for rhubarb, strawberry and pink peppercorn crumble with chamomile ice-cream by Sean McConnell from Monster, Canberra.

Aug 16, 2015 2:00pm
By Sean McConnell
  • 40 mins preparation
  • 1 hr cooking plus chilling, freezing
  • Serves 8
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Rhubarb, strawberry and pink peppercorn crumble with chamomile ice-cream
"This is pretty much your mum's old-fashioned crumble," says McConnell, "but we've added pink peppercorns to give it a delicate and floral heat."

Ingredients

  • 750 gm rhubarb, diced
  • 90 gm honey
  • 60 gm brown sugar
  • Juice and finely grated rind of 3 lemons
  • 750 gm strawberries (about 3 punnets), hulled and halved
  • 375 gm caster sugar
  • 3 tbsp pink peppercorns, crushed
Chamomile ice-cream
  • 500 ml (2 cups) milk
  • 200 ml pouring cream
  • 20 gm (1 cup) loose-leaf chamomile tea
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 175 gm caster sugar
Crumble
  • 150 gm softened butter
  • 150 gm (1 cup) plain flour
  • 150 gm almond meal
  • 150 gm (1/3 cup) brown sugar
  • 75 gm rolled oats

Method

Main
  • 1
    For chamomile ice-cream, bring milk, cream and chamomile tea to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and stand to infuse (1 hour). Whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale (4-5 minutes), strain milk mixture over, pressing on solids, and whisk to combine. Return to a clean pan and stir over very low heat until mixture thickly coats the back of a spoon or reaches 87C on a thermometer (5-6 minutes) Transfer to a bowl, whisk occasionally until cool, then chill. Churn in an ice-cream machine and freeze. Makes about 1 litre.
  • 2
    Place rhubarb, honey, brown sugar and lemon juice and rind in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender (8-10 minutes). In a separate pan, stir strawberries and sugar over medium heat until broken down (8-10 minutes), add to rhubarb with 1 tsp sea salt and set aside.
  • 3
    For crumble, beat butter and flour in an electric mixer to combine, then add almond meal, sugar and oats and mix to combine.
  • 4
    Preheat oven to 180C. Spoon rhubarb and strawberry compote into 8 shallow individual ovenproof dishes or a 1.2-litre baking dish, scatter with peppercorns, and top with crumble. Bake until golden and bubbling (15-20 minutes for individual, 25-30 minutes for large). Serve with chamomile ice-cream.

Notes

Drink Suggestion: 2013 Lerida Estate Botrytis Pinot Gris. Drink suggestion by Michael Gray

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