White Christmas ice cream trees
Ingredients:
125g mixed glace fruits
80ml sweet sherry
125g dark chocolate
1.25L vanilla ice cream, softened
2/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped
Method:
Chop fruits and place in a bowl with sherry. Cover and allow to infuse for at least 4 hours or overnight.
To prepare paper moulds, cut eight 30cm x 20cm sheets of baking paper. Trim 8 sheets of A4 cardboard into the same size.
Lay each baking paper sheet over each sheet of cardboard. Bring top right corners down to the middle of the cardboard and then roll to form a cone shape. Secure with a small piece of sticky tape. Repeat with remaining sheets of paper and place in 8 champagne flutes or slim glasses.
Chop chocolate into fine pieces. Drain the glace fruits, discarding the liquid, and fold into softened ice-cream with almonds and chocolate.
Scoop the ice-cream mixture into the paper cones. Be sure to pack the ice-cream tightly and level the top. Place in the freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight until firm.
To serve, remove tape and unwrap the paper. Invert cones onto serving plates.
Mascarpone strawberry trifle terrine
Ingredients:
2 gelatine sheets
300g strawberries
600ml double cream, at room temperature
200g mascarpone
5ml vanilla essence
75g icing sugar,
150ml dry sherry
12 sponge fingers
toasted flaked almond, to decorate
edible silver balls, to decorate
Method:
Rinse a loaf tin approximately 21cm long x 8cm wide x 7cm high with cold water and then line with baking paper, leaving a little overhang.
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes.
Mash 125g of the strawberries and then push them through a sieve using the back of a spoon to make a purée. Discard the seeds.
Whisk 450ml of the cream until stiff peaks form.
Whisk the mascarpone with the vanilla essence and sugar.
Fold the mascarpone mixture into the cream until smooth.
Drain the gelatine and dissolve it in 2 tbsp slightly cooled boiling water.
Stir 2 tsp of the gelatine mixture into the purée, then stir the remaining gelatine into the cream.
Spoon some cream into the tin to make a layer, about 1/2cm thick. Drizzle with a third of the purée. Dip 2 sponge fingers into the sherry and put them in the tin against one side, end to end. Repeat with 2 more fingers on the opposite side of the tin, and finish with 2 more sponge fingers down the centre.
Spoon more cream over the fingers and between the gaps. Push half the remaining raspberries into the cream in lines between the fingers.
Drizzle with purée and repeat with the remaining fingers, cream, strawberries and purée. Fold over the baking paper and chill for 4 hours.
To serve, whip the remaining cream until soft peaks form. Turn the terrine out upside down onto a platter. Top with cream and scatter with almonds and silver balls
Mince pie cheesecake
Ingredients:
200g digestive biscuits, crushed
125g butter, melted
400g cream cheese
800g ricotta
150g caster sugar
6 eggs
Chocolate
Whipped cream
300g mince pies, crumbled
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C .
Stir in melted butter and crushed biscuits together and then press into a 30cm spring form tin.
Place the cream cheese, ricotta and sugar in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Add the eggs, then fold in the mince pies.
Spoon the mixture onto the base and bake for about 1 hour until springy to the touch.
Allow the cheesecake to cool before turning out.
Top with grated curls of chocolate and serve with whipped cream.
