Ingredients
| ORANGE PARFAIT | |
| juice and zest of 2 oranges | |
| 4 medium egg yolks | |
| 120g sugar | |
| 1 tablespoon vodka | |
| 1 teaspoon orange-blossom water | |
| 2 medium egg whites | |
| 300ml cream, lightly whipped | |
| pistachio cake (the recipe below will make about double what you will need, depending on the tin you use for the parfait) | |
| apricots, freeze-dried oranges, chopped pistachios, to serve | |
| PISTACHIO CAKE | |
| 100g pistachios | |
| 125g butter | |
| 75g self-raising flour | |
| 2 eggs | |
| 75g caster sugar | |
| APRICOTS | |
| 500g apricots, stones removed, sliced | |
| juice and zest of 1 orange | |
| 2 tablespoons caster sugar |
Instructions
| 1. | ORANGE PARFAIT |
| 2. | Bring the orange juice to the boil in a small saucepan and reduce by half (you want to end up with about ¼ cup). Cool. |
| 3. | In a medium-sized bowl, use an electric mixer to whisk the egg yolks until thick and creamy. |
| 4. | In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar in 100ml water, stirring over a low heat. |
| 5. | When dissolved, increase the heat and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes until the syrup reaches soft-ball stage (120°C on a candy thermometer). |
| 6. | While whisking continuously, slowly pour the syrup into the egg yolks. |
| 7. | Continue whisking until the mixture is cool. |
| 8. | When the egg yolk mixture is cool, stir in the cooled orange juice, zest, vodka and orange-blossom water. |
| 9. | Whisk the egg whites until they form peaks. |
| 10. | Fold the egg whites and whipped cream into the mixture. |
| 11. | Pour the mixture into a 1.25-litre loaf tin lined with plastic wrap. |
| 12. | Cut the pistachio cake to fit and place on top. |
| 13. | Cover well and freeze for at least 24 hours. |
| 14. | To serve, unwrap and slice. Serve with apricots, and sprinkle with freeze-dried oranges and toasted pistachios. |
| 15. | PISTACHIO CAKE |
| 16. | Heat the oven to 160°C. |
| 17. | Spread the pistachios in an even layer on a baking tray. |
| 18. | Bake for 6 minutes, stirring once, until the nuts are just golden and smelling toasted. |
| 19. | Raise the oven temperature to 180°C. |
| 20. | Place half the nuts in a food processor, grind finely and set aside. |
| 21. | Chop the remaining pistachios roughly and store in an airtight container for garnish. |
| 22. | Place the butter in a saucepan and melt. |
| 23. | Brush a 20cm x 20cm cake tin with some of the melted butter and dust with flour. |
| 24. | Set aside the remaining butter to cool. |
| 25. | Beat the eggs and sugar with an electric beater until very thick and pale, about 5 minutes. |
| 26. | Sift the flour and mix with the ground pistachios. |
| 27. | Gently fold in half the flour mixture, then half the butter, repeat with the remaining flour and butter. |
| 28. | Spoon into the tin. Bake for 15 minutes until risen. |
| 29. | APRICOTS |
| 30. | Place the apricots, orange juice, zest and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Leave to macerate for 30 minutes |
Recipes and food styling Fiona Smith / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Fiona Lascelles
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