August 17th
2008
I’m sure everyone has a favorite part when preparing a casual dinner whether it’d be for close friends or family. Certainly, having them over, spending quality time with them and an evening filled with plenty of laughter is what it’s all about. But besides? What triggers your happy buttons before enjoying their company? How about setting the table, or the cooking part itself? All very valid thoughts, but for me personally it’s clearly the decision process about what I want to serve to my guests that night. Involving a lot of skimming through cookbooks, recipe journals and pondering over my choices.
Having a checklist does come in handy: Personal likes and dislikes? Any food-allergies? What did I serve them the last time? What’s in season? These questions usually boil down the options quickly to a reasonable number. And that’s exactly how I did it when we invited our friends Uli and Roger over. No seafood, no innards, no anise were, luckily, the only constraints for the evening. Considering these criteria, I would generally now consult my bookmarks, a food magazine or cookbook for ideas. But Oliver suggested something so obvious, that I’d never would have thought about it: Why don’t you cook from your own book (= an unbound early copy)?
Minutes later the menu was set. We would start out with some finger food, different olive oils and freshly baked bread, indulge in a semi-sweet risotto with lamb fillet skewers and finish with what has to be one of my favorite desserts from my book. An elegant passion fruit parfait with a red wine reduction, very pleasing to the eye as well as the palate. In case you thought ice cream desserts were only for those who own an ice cream maker – not true at all. Parfait is dead easy to prepare and will wow your guests, a perfect choice for every cozy summer evening. Too lazy to prepare the reduction? Then serve it with exotic fruits…
For the parfait, slice the vanilla pod lengthwise, scrape out the pulp with a knife, and put into a large metal bowl together with the egg yolks and the sugar. Whisk over a hot bain-marie – this rarely takes more than 4 minutes, even by hand. The mixture will be foamy, then creamy. Set the bowl into ice-cold water and keep beating until the egg creme has cooled down. Halve the passion fruit, scoop out the pulp and seeds, and stir into the creme with the meringue crumbs. Beat the whipping cream until stiff. First fold in one-third of it into the creme, then gently fold the rest into it so that it remains fluffy. Fill into the ramekins and freeze for at least 4 hours.
In the meantime, boil the wine and sugar for the reduction in a pan. Wash the orange in hot water and peel 2-3 stripes of the zest with the potatoe peeler and add to the wine. Squeeze out the orange and pour the juice in through a sieve. Peel the ginger, cut into slices, and also add with the cinnamon and anise. Boil everything down to at least half the volume over medium heat in 20-30 minutes. If the reduction is still too liquid, stir the cornstarch with 2-3 tbsp of cold water until smooth before mixing it into the reduction, which should now be simmering. (The reduction gets even thicker when it cools down, so a bit of intuition is required here). Remove from the stove and let it cool down. The consistency is perfect when the reduction drips from the spoon like runny honey.
Dip the ramekins into hot water for a few seconds before serving. Then run a knife along the edge and loosen the parfait before turning it upside down on the plates. Let it thaw for a few minutes – that’s the only way it will develop its full creaminess – and sprinkle with the reduction. If you like, you can also sprinkle a few meringue crumbs on it. By the way, the parfait can be easily kept in the freezer compartment for several days. It’s a dessert you can make in advance for special occasions.
Passion Fruit Parfait
Recipe source: delicious days - the book, page 106
Prep time: about 45 minutes, plus 4 hours of freezing
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Ingredients (serves 4):
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Passion Fruit Parfait
1 vanilla pod
3 large egg yolks
50 g sugar
2 passion fruit
4 tbsp meringue crumbs (about the size of a hazelnut, possibly extra for sprinkling on top)
200 g whipping cream
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Reduction
400 ml red wine (such as Cabernet Sauvignon)
50-75 g sugar
1 organic orange
1 piece of fresh ginger (about 1 cm/0.5 inch))
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 star anise pod
1-2 tsp cornstarch (if necessary)
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plus: 4 ramekins of about 100 ml
I am so jealous of your guests! That sweet red wine reduction sounds wonderful. I have always made savory sauces with red wine, what a great idea!
OH MY! Every time I come to your site and find a new dessert, I have to try it. So far my family loved them all. Looking forward to your book!
I think I never had parfait in my whole life, but this looks so good! Is it possible to use other fruits, too?
Girl, I simply love your photography. Your book has to be beautiful!!!!!!!!!
Oh. Wow.
Thanks for the welcome distraction to work... I now have my menu planned for Sunday's Summer Picnic, thanks! Just need the weather to cooperate!
Now just waiting for your book to come out through amazon.co.uk :)
I love so much the photos (let alone the recipe itself); to me they look like a poetry visualized. great!
Oliver is a smart person... is'nt he ;o)
Have a great week and go on like this!
All the best from munich-neuhausen.
Danièle
Anything with passion fruit has my undivided attention. These are amazing!
Wanted to try passionfruit but after tasting it I had an antiphylactic reaction and ended up in hospital. Guess no passion fruit for me. too bad.
Thanks, Niki!
I am putting a Brazilian-Thai dinner menu together and your recipe saved me a lot of time (normally very enjoyable I have to admit). I already pre-ordered your book and am sure it will become a bestseller (a bestreader) in my kitchen. Warm regards from Vienna,
Carolina
Perfect dessert for a sommer dinner!
I love, love, love passion fruit and never prepared parfait, so I HAVE TO MAKE THIS! Looks fantastic! And I'm sure it tastes just as good...
wow this looks good to me!!
Wine reduce is kinda joker .Is very useful for savory and sweet,and always gave a classy touch.Interesting combination with passion fruit, must be good.
You must be proud having your own cookbook. Congratulations
Lovely, lovely photo. and I'm sure it tastes better. Thanks for sharing!
Love this! Passion fruit is definitely one of my favorite flavors, so this is tops on my list!
Wow, thanks for sharing this recipe and beautiful photo too. I will definitely be trying this one in summer.
This recipe looks gorgeous! Do you know if your book will be available from France? I've checked on amazon but nothing.
EDIT Nicky: The book will become available through Amazon.com during the first weeks of September 08. I'll keep my readers posted ;)
Hi, this looks so damn delicious. I've never tried this recipe but I think i'm going to have a go and make it. Anything with vanilla in it has one me over ;)
Keep up the good work,
Cheers, Jean-Paul
Oh yeah baby, that's what I call a dessert! And congrats on your 11 month baby BTW...you are amazing and I hope the book comes to a bookstore near me soon!
I'll devour anything with passion fruit in it!
Wow! ...and yummy ;) counting days 'til your book comes out
I love this parfait =.The truth is that i am a big fan of anything passion fruit. congratulations on the book!
i used mango pulp instead of passion fruit,
is heaven , just heaven.....
I make parfait every once in a while when I have friends over for dinner - it's such a handy dessert, easy to prepare and you can just have it waiting for you in the freezer and don't have to fiddle around with it while your guest are here!
I most frequently flavour it with grated almonds, vanilla and a little bit of rum and serve it with some kind of fruit purée, but I am always grateful for new variations, so thanks a lot for this, will try it out for sure! I particularly like the combination with the red wine reduction.
That looks so delicious. I'm so going to have to attempt to make this one day...or at least get my friend who is studying to be a chef make it. Guess I can't stick to my diet if I keep reading your blog.
I'm on a diet until after my wedding...but look out in November! That is the first dessert I'm going to make as a married woman. Looks wonderful!
This self proclaimed design goddess loves reading your blog! Will be checking backing often!
[...] Nicole Stich in ihrem Blog delicious:days sehr erfolgreich: alles rund um Rezepte (aktuell: Passionsfrucht-Parfait oder Bulgursalat), kochen und genießen. Das Weblog ist vom Time Magazine übrigens unter die 50 [...]
um- I just found yr site and I am in heaven. gorgeous! xo
It looks like very sweet and very delicious. I would love to taste it.
Hi, I'm giving you an Award:
http://helene-lacuisine.blogspot.com/2008/08/simple-art-of-tart.html
Have a wonderful day!
Hi Nicole!! Sounds absolut delicious! will try that one next weekend! I saw you in the latest Tschibo issue! So thats how you look like! It seems we have the our favorite meals in common! Good luck for the book!
There's nothing like the smell of nice cooking in the house, when the guests arrive... That's what makes me super happy when I entertain.
This looks so very tempting, I never prepared parfait in individual ramekins, great idea!
So, ich schmökere dann ab morgen in der fix und fertigen gebundenen Ausgabe, die heute verschickt wurde :-)
Gruß aus Regensburg
such a beautiful photo...great to ease a weary day. How much more if one could taste it.
The recipe calls for 200 grams of whipping cream. There are non-dairy and dairy creams out there. If it has the "real seal" (a red drop of milk with the word REAL in it) it is a real dairy product. I would recommend using the dairy vs. non-dairy. It is much more healthy with all the nutrients it provides. Three servings of dairy a day help to build stronger bones and prevent certain kinds of cancer among other benefits! This could be some of your dairy for the day.
this looks absolutely divine!!
You had my mouth watering at the beginning of the blog, at the end I had to order in!
Absolutely mouthwatering!
I made this gorgeous parfait last night for our 5th anniversary, it was actually the first parfait I ever made. :-) It turned out great!
I made half the recipie using two not too large egg yolks and three small passion fruits. Very good choice, the finished product was very fruity and had a nice passion fruit flavour.
I was hesitant whether I should also make teh red wine reduction since my SO isn't so wild about wine. But I predicted that it would be great with the parfait, and it was! I added some cherries and let them simmer with the sauce the whole time. The aromas of the wine, the spices and the cherries harmonised really well with the parfait.
So thank you again for a wonderful and inspiring recipe!
That is what I call the art of cooking! I agree with Samantha on using the full dairy with this though. I tried it both ways and without a doubt the non dairy option was a pale second. You might have to sacrifice the diet for a day or two but it is worth it!
Was sind "Maringue Crumbs" das es mal irgend was ganzes war, was jetzt nur noch in Krümmeln ist weiss ich.. Aber was eine Maringue ist find ich noch nicht mal mehr wirklich im netz.... Hilfe :)
Hallo Jess, wahrscheinlich bist Du an einem Tippfehler gescheitert, Meringue schreibt man mit "e". Meringue oder Baiser sind Schaumgebäckstücke (aus gezuckertem Eischnee), die man im Supermarkt oder beim Bäcker bekommt. Diese werden dann noch grob mit den Fingern zerkrümelt. Bei diesem Rezept könnte man sie auch weglassen, ich mag sie aber wegen der besonderen Konsistenz, die sie dem Parfait geben.
versuch nummero 2 :) Ich weiss jetzt zwar was der ganze rest ist, aber was "meringue crumbs" sind hab ich immer noch nicht raus gefunden. Könntest du mir das erklären? Und kann man das Parfait auch ohne machen? LG Jess.
Okay, now I really hate you. No, really.
I was just starting a diet. Then when I saw the pictures and saw the recipe I couldn't stop my saliva glands from working. It hurt like hell. So I just went to the kitchen and gulped down chèvre cheese, bread, camembert, plus half a liter milk with cereals.
I hate you. And I will sue you later.
But please, don't stop making my saliva glands hurt.