with Stewed Gooseberries and Apple
A real dinner party treat. We all agreed that this is one of the most delicious desserts we have developed to date.
ICE-CREAM
1 x 250 g Ina Paarman's Lemon Cheesecake
1 cup (250 ml) water
2 cups (500 ml) fresh cream
Mix as per pack instructions. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Line muffin pans with paper cups. Heap them with the mixture and freeze.
STEWED GOOSEBERRIES WITH APPLE
Enough for 8 servings
400 g gooseberries (1 heaped cupful)
1 cup (250 ml) water
*½ cup (125 ml) vanilla sugar
2 T (30 ml) lemon juice
2 cored, peeled Granny Smith apples, coarsely grated
Simmer together, without a lid for 20-25 minutes. The fruit mixture will taste quite sour, but don't add more sugar. When served with the ice-cream it is perfect. Chill in the fridge.
* If vanilla sugar is not available. Add ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence or better still, ¼ of a vanilla bean split in half lengthways.
CARAMEL
Caramel goes sticky quite soon when exposed to the atmosphere. Store it flat and open in the deep freeze if preparing in advance.
½ cup (125 ml) white sugar
3 T (45 ml) water
Line a tray with non-stick baking paper.
Use a smallish saucepan with a long handle. Put the sugar and water in the saucepan and shake regularly over high heat until the sugar starts to melt. Keep shaking and tilting the pot until the caramel is a dark golden colour. Pour it out onto the baking paper and tilt the tray to spread it as wide as you can. Leave to cool. When rock hard shatter with a knife to get shards of caramel (it will look like broken glass).
TO ASSEMBLE
Edible flowers to garnish e.g. tiny violets.
Take the ice-cream out of the freezer at least an hour before to soften a little. The dessert can be assembled an hour before serving time and left in the fridge. Add the caramel at the last minute.Spoon the Gooseberry and Apple Sauce into balloon shaped brandy glasses. Remove the ice-cream from the paper cups and carefully lower into the glasses with two forks or pierce with a kebab stick and lift. Scatter flowers around the ice cream and spear each one with an upstanding shard of caramel.