Name: Caramel parfait with candied popcorn
Prep time: 100 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 150 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely chopped; 45 gm Copha vegetable shortening, finely chopped; Candied popcorn; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 40 gm popping corn; 25 gm sesame seeds; 60 gm caster sugar; 50 gm butter, coarsely chopped; 30 gm honey; Caramel parfait; 400 ml pouring cream; Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla bean; 180 gm caster sugar; 6 egg yolks

Caramel parfait with candied popcorn

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for caramel parfait with candied popcorn by Catherine Adams from Rockpool restaurant.

Serves 6

Prep

1H 40M

Cook

25M

Total

2H 5M

“Forgo the fork and spoon – this crunchy, creamy, caramelised, chocolate-dipped ice-cream sandwich really just wants to be picked up and eaten. The range of frames, moulds, tins and so on used in restaurants is wide and varied. I usually use rectangular frames in the restaurant, but I’ve used a cake tin here. The result will taste the same whether you make squares, rounds or funny lumps.”

Ingredients

150 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely chopped

45 gm Copha vegetable shortening, finely chopped

Candied popcorn

2 tbsp vegetable oil

40 gm popping corn

25 gm sesame seeds

60 gm caster sugar

50 gm butter, coarsely chopped

30 gm honey

Caramel parfait

400 ml pouring cream

Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla bean

180 gm caster sugar

6 egg yolks

Method

Main

1.For candied popcorn, preheat oven to 180C. Heat a large saucepan over high heat, add oil, then corn, quickly cover with a lid and shake pan occasionally until all corn has popped (2-4 minutes). Transfer popcorn to a tray and cool to room temperature (10-15 minutes), discard unpopped kernels. Roast sesame seeds on a baking tray until light golden (5-7 minutes), stirring occasionally to evenly toast, then add to popcorn. Combine sugar, butter and honey in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stir until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and boil until caramel (3-5 minutes). Add popcorn and sesame seeds, stir to coat, then divide between two lightly oiled 20cm x 12cm cake tins. Stand until cool (20-30 minutes), then remove from tins.

2.For caramel parfait, combine 75ml cream and vanilla seeds in a small saucepan over low heat, stir occasionally until warm. Whisk yolks in an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and doubled in volume. Meanwhile, heat a saucepan over high heat until hot, add sugar (it should start to melt then colour) and swirl pan occasionally until sugar is dissolved and dark amber in colour (3-5 minutes). Do not leave unattended as sugar can burn very quickly. Gradually add warm cream (be careful as hot caramel may spit), stirring to combine. Decrease mixer speed to medium-low and slowly pour in hot caramel down side of bowl. Increase speed to medium-high and whisk until cool (6-8 minutes). Whisk remaining cream in a bowl to stiff peaks, then fold into yolk mixture in three batches. Pour into a 20cm x 12cm cake tin lined with baking paper. Place one sheet of candied popcorn on top. Freeze until firm (3-5 hours), then turn out and press on the remaining sheet of candied popcorn. Return to freezer and freeze until very firm (3-5 hours), then cut into six 3.5cm-wide sandwiches and freeze until required.

3.Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (4-5 minutes), add Copha, stir until melted (1-2 minutes) and keep warm. Dip one end of each parfait sandwich in the chocolate and freeze until ready to serve.