Luke Mangan's Liquorice Parfait

12th OF November 2011

By Luke Mangan

Liquorice Parfait is one of my most recognised dishes and my signature dessert. It’s served throughout all my restaurants in Australia and overseas.

I have been making this dish since 1995 – it was created in the kitchen of CBD after months of trial and error. I was always trying to do something different with a dish or two and add a bit of a surprise factor.
I tried it first with cinnamon, but that didn’t work so, because I love liquorice so much, we said we would give that a go.
It’s a balanced dessert – rich and creamy, but we served it with lime which cuts through that.
It looks impressively complicated but looks can be deceiving - it's dead simple. It tastes a bit like a velvety ice cream and it’s truly amazing.
Even people who don’t like liquorice actually seem to like this dessert. Some might say it’s a bit old fashioned but when the balances of flavours work, why change it! It is best served with a glass of sauternes. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Lime Syrup
250g sugar
250ml water
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Lime segments, to garnish

Liquorice Parfait
300ml cream
50g liquorice
2 free range eggs
1 egg yolk
2 tsp glucose
60g sugar
2 tbsp Pernod

For the lime syrup
Bring the sugar and water to the boil, stirring to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; add the lime juice and the rind to taste. Stir well and refrigerate.

For the liquorice parfait
In a small saucepan combine the cream and liquorice, heating gently without boiling, until the liquorice is very soft.

Blend the mixture in a food processor until it is well combined. Pour through a fine sieve to strain out any tiny pieces of liquorice remaining. Set aside to cool.

In a stainless steel bowl, over a large saucepan of gently simmering water, make a sabayon. This is done by whisking together the full eggs, yolk, glucose, sugar and Pernod, until the mixture turns pale and fluffy. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until it cools a little.

Fold half of the sabayon into the liquorice mixture. Once it’s combined, fold in the remaining sabayon and mix through.

Pour into individual moulds, or a log shaped tin, and freeze.

To serve
Lower the moulds into hot water for a few seconds before turning out the parfait. You can either pour over the lime syrup, or serve it on the table in a jug. Garnish with lime segments.

For more from Luke, visit www.lukemangan.com

Get Expert Advice to RESCU your life: Fashion; Beauty; Finance; Health; Dating; Lifestyle and great competitions.