Pear coulis with Caramel Ice-Cream and Toffee Pecan Nuts
One of our favourite foodies, Janine Cumming at Vineyard Cafe & Cottages kindly shared this recipe. She said, "To my mind, pears and caramel are the perfect partners. This recipe is both delicious and easy to execute and can be made ahead of time. The ice-cream recipe is one that I have adapted so that it will freeze well if you do not have an ice-cream churn."
Caramel Ice-Cream
300g brown sugar
½ cup water
8 egg yolks
800ml cream, lightly whipped
Beat the egg yolks. Dissolve the brown sugar in the water, bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot sugar mix onto the egg yolks, beating continuously. Cool. Fold in the whipped cream and freeze.
Pear Coulis
500g firm pears, peeled and diced. I prefer William pears but Beurre Bosc will also be good.
180ml fresh orange juice
100g castor sugar
Dissolve the sugar in the orange juice and bring to a simmer. Add the diced pears and simmer very gently until the pears are soft. This may take 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the pears used, and will be best if it barely simmers. Cool.
Toffee Pecan Nuts
125g pecan nuts
150g castor sugar
50ml water
Bring the sugar and water to the boil, swirling the pan until the sugar is dissolved and washing down the sides of the pan with a water dipped pastry brush. Boil without stirring until the caramel is a rich golden. Spread the pecans closely on a lightly oiled baking tray and pour the caramel over to coat evenly. When completely cool, the toffee will lift off the tray and you can chop it coarsely and store in an airtight container.
To Serve
Put scoops of ice-cream in a decorative glass or bowl, spoon over the pear coulis and top with toffee pecans.
Thanks to photographers (left to right) Cory Rossiter and Denis Marsden.
