This avocado & chilli with horchata foam is a creation born from Fanny Zanotti’s flavour obsession
Her absolute favourite summer drink (think rice milk infused with cinnamon). Horchata originates in Spain, but her mum always used to make bottles of it during the holidays.
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the chocolate ice cream:
• 400g whole milk
• 100g whipping cream
• 125g caster sugar
• 20g dehydrated glucose
• 20g skimmed-milk powder
• 5g ice-cream stabiliser
• 100g 70% dark chocolate
• 20g 100% dark chocolate
For the avocado curd:
• 2 1/2 gelatine leaves
• 200g whole milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 50g caster sugar
• 100g avocado flesh, roughly chopped
For the chilli jam:
• 100g water
• 50g glucose
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon jam pectin
• A pinch citric acid or a squeeze lemon juice
For the horchata foam:
• 500g whole milk
• 30g caster sugar
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 50g pudding rice
• 100g whipping cream
To serve:
• rice crispies
Method
For the chilli jam:
1 Place the water, glucose and chill in in a small pan, and bring to the boil over low heat. 2 Turn the heat off and allow to rest for 30 minutes, with a lid on.
3 Combine the caster sugar and pectin and whisk into the chilli water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes.
4 Off the heat, add the citric acid and transfer in a small jar. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
For the horchata foam:
1 Place all of the ingredients except for the cream in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and blitz in a blender until smooth.
2 Pass through a fine-mesh sieve, add the cream and allow to cool completely. Transfer to a canister. Charge with 2 cartridges of nitrogen and shake well. Keep in the fridge.
For the chocolate ice-cream:
1 Bring the milk and cream to 40°C in a medium pan. In a small bowl, combine the caster sugar, dehydrated glucose, milk powder and stabiliser and sprinkle on the milk, whisking constantly.
2 Bring to the boil, then pour over the chocolate. Stir well and transfer into a plastic container.
3 Cover the surface with clingfilm and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Reserve a few tablespoons of the mix to brush on your dessert plates later.
4 Churn the rest according to your ice-cream machine manufacturer’s instructions.
For the avocado curd:
1 Soak the gelatine leaves in ice-cold water.
2 Bring the milk to the boil in a small pan. Mix the egg yolks and sugar until combined.
3 When the milk has boiled, pour over the egg yolks, whisking as you do so, then transfer back into the pan and cook over low heat until it reaches 80°C or the custard coats the back of a spoon.
4 Transfer to a bowl and add the squeezed gelatine leaves and the avocado flesh. Use a stick-blender to blitz until smooth and pipe into small half-sphere silicone moulds.
5 Freeze overnight, then unmould and keep frozen until ready to use. Defrost an hour or 2 before serving.
To serve:
1 Brush each plate with some of the reserved ice-cream mix.
2 Arrange 2 half-spheres of avocado curd on each plate, together with a quenelle of ice-cream and a few dollops of foam. Dot with chilli jam and sprinkle with rice crispies.
Recipe courtesy of Fanny Zanotti, extracted from Paris Pastry Club © Hardie Grant
