Warm Fig Bread Pudding, Bourbon Maple Glaze, Toasted Walnuts, Brandied Cherries, Shaved Dark Chocolate, Blood Orange Marmalade, Cardamom and Ginger Whipped Cream
You may recognize the main part of this dish from the hit holiday classic tune "We wish you a merry Christmas". Its almost as though the holidays threw up right on this plate, I may have gone a little overboard. But cooking seasonally, for me at least, doesn't just mean using products that are still being pulled from the ground as it slowly freezes. It also means getting into the spirit of the season. And for me that involves warmth, spice and lots of booze.
I began constructing this dish by poaching dried figs in red wine and a thyme/sage simple syrup. Once they were soft I pureed them with a stick blender into a smooth paste. I combined the paste with sugar, spices, milk, egg and heavy cream. I poured this mixture over cubed brioche and allowed it to fully absorb. I spooned it into ramekins and baked them for 20 minutes at 350.
I toasted the walnuts in a hot pan before adding butter and maple sugar, stirring to combine. I added some bourbon allowing it to flambe, cooking off the alcohol. I reduced the liquid to a thick syrup and dipped the puddings into it before serving.
The brandied cherries and blood orange marmalade were both taken from my pantry. I made them both last year. I didn't do anything with them other than opening the containers and removing their contents.
I whisked the heavy cream with sugar, cardamom and powdered ginger til thick. I shaved pieces of dark chocolate with a vegetable peeler and garnished the dish with mint, that is still thriving in my garden well into December.
I began constructing this dish by poaching dried figs in red wine and a thyme/sage simple syrup. Once they were soft I pureed them with a stick blender into a smooth paste. I combined the paste with sugar, spices, milk, egg and heavy cream. I poured this mixture over cubed brioche and allowed it to fully absorb. I spooned it into ramekins and baked them for 20 minutes at 350.
I toasted the walnuts in a hot pan before adding butter and maple sugar, stirring to combine. I added some bourbon allowing it to flambe, cooking off the alcohol. I reduced the liquid to a thick syrup and dipped the puddings into it before serving.
The brandied cherries and blood orange marmalade were both taken from my pantry. I made them both last year. I didn't do anything with them other than opening the containers and removing their contents.
I whisked the heavy cream with sugar, cardamom and powdered ginger til thick. I shaved pieces of dark chocolate with a vegetable peeler and garnished the dish with mint, that is still thriving in my garden well into December.