Violet ice-cream, blueberry, vanilla cream and meringue recipe, Brent Savage, Gourmet Institute (2024)

1

For violet ice-cream, place milk and violets in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then set aside to infuse. Place sugar and guar gum in a saucepan, mix well, then add liquid glucose and 1½ tbsp water and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Add cream, milk powder, violet essence and strained infused milk, then place over a bowl of ice and stir until chilled (10-15 minutes). Churn in an ice-cream machine, then freeze. Makes about 750ml.

2

Place blueberries and their juice and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl, weight with a plate, cover with plastic wrap and heat over a saucepan of barely simmering water until berries release all their juice (1 hour; you need 255ml). Strain through a fine sieve without pressing. Discard solids. Set aside 200ml juice for the gel and 55ml separately to make the meringue.

3

Preheat oven to 90C and lightly oil 3 oven trays and line with baking paper. Whisk powdered eggwhite, xanthan gum and the 55ml reserved blueberry juice in a bowl to combine and refrigerate to hydrate powders (1 hour). Place in an electric mixer and whisk until stiff peaks form (8-10 minutes). Place in a piping bag with a 5mm plain nozzle and pipe 35cm lengths onto the prepared trays, leaving 1cm space between each. Bake until meringue is completely dried, but uncoloured (3-4 hours, depending on the humidity; to test, remove a piece of meringue from oven for 5 minutes and if it cools crisp, it's ready). Roll each stick gently to remove from baking paper, then cool until crisp, cut in half, then immediately store in a well-sealed bag. Makes about 36 x 35cm sticks. Meringue keeps frozen in a well-sealed bag for about a month.

4

Whisk remaining reserved blueberry juice and agar agar in a saucepan and bring to the boil for 1 minute. Transfer to a container and cool briefly (10-15 minutes), then refrigerate uncovered until set (30-40 minutes). Process in a blender to a smooth purée, then set aside.

5

For buckwheat and blueberry streusel, preheat oven to 160C. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until very pale and sugar dissolves (3-5 minutes). Add flour, almond meal and a pinch of salt and fold until a dough forms. Place a third of the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out to 25cm x 30cm and 2mm thick. Repeat with remaining dough. Remove top sheets of baking paper, place dough on oven trays and bake until light golden and firm (10-15 minutes). Allow to cool, then blend in a food processor with blueberry powder to fine crumbs. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 1½ cups.

6

For vanilla cream, whisk sour cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually fold in cream and place in a piping bag with a 1.5cm plain nozzle.

7

To serve, pipe vanilla cream onto plates. Make a well in the cream using a spoon and fill each with 3 tsp blueberry gel. Spoon 2 tbsp blueberry streusel over one side, top with a quenelle of ice-cream, and garnish with meringue sticks and fresh blueberries.