Nougat ice-cream with pistachios and glacé fruits (nougat glacé à la pistache)

You won’t need an ice-cream machine for this dessert, just some fragrant honey and good quality glacé fruits. It’s a great recipe for entertaining as all the work is done long before the guests arrive.

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 60 g whole almonds, each cut into 3 pieces
• 30 g pistachio nuts
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 50 g honey (orange honey goes well with this)
• 2 egg yolks
• 100 ml cream, whipped to soft peak
• 3 tbsp diced mixed glacé fruits

Raspberry coulis

• 300 g fresh or frozen raspberries
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 orange, juiced
• 2 tbsp caster sugar

Freezing time overnight

You will need to start this recipe 1 day ahead.

Instructions

Lightly grease 6 x 250 ml (1 cup) capacity moulds or a 1.5 litre (6 cup) capacity rectangular mould, then line with plastic wrap, leaving the sides overhanging.

Place the almonds and pistachios in a frying pan over medium heat and shake until lightly toasted but not browned.  Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and stir until it caramelises and coats the nuts. Transfer the nuts to a baking paper lined tray and set aside to cool. Once cool, break up the nuts until separated.

Using electric beaters, whisk the egg whites until just before stiff peaks form. 

Meanwhile, place the honey in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 seconds. With the motor of your electric beaters running, gradually pour the honey onto the beaten egg whites and continue beating until the whites have cooled down — you can test this by dipping your finger into the mixture, once the beaters have been turned off.

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until light and creamy, then fold this into the cold beaten egg whites.  Fold in the whipped cream, glacé fruits and three-quarters of the caramelised nuts. Spoon or pipe the mixture into the prepared moulds. Cover the top with plastic wrap, then freeze overnight or until frozen.

Meanwhile, to make the raspberry coulis, place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, discard the seeds, then refrigerate until needed.

To serve, invert the ice-creams onto cold serving plates and remove the plastic wrap. Scatter with the remaining nuts and pour the raspberry coulis around the outside. 

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Jerrie-Joy Redman-Lloyd. Food preparation by Alice Storey. Creative concept by Lou Fay. 

Taste le Tour starts Saturday 4 July 2015 on SBS ONE and finishes 26 July 2015. Visit the Taste le Tour website to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes or find out more about the show. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.