Kaffir Lime Leaf Ice-cream with Chocolate Lace Biscuits. Ice-cream with a twist paired with crisp chocolate lace biscuits.
Serves 4-6
2 cups (500ml) full-cream milk
1 cup (250ml) thickened cream
⅔ cup caster sugar
1 tsp fresh kaffir lime zest or dehydrated kaffir lime leaf powder (see tip)
6 free range egg yolks
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, washed, finely sliced
Kaffir Lime-leaf Sugar
1 tsp dehydrated kaffir
lime-leaf powder
1 tbsp raw sugar
Chocolate Lace Biscuits
75g softened unsalted butter
200g icing sugar
30g plain flour
20g unsweetened cocoa powder
75ml fresh orange juice, at room temperature
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
25-30g cocoa nibs
Combine milk, cream, caster sugar, kaffir lime zest or powder, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, egg yolks and strips of kaffir lime leaves in a large glass heatproof jug. Whisk well to combine. Cover jug with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Pour mixture into a saucepan and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches simmering point. Remove saucepan from heat. Pour custard back into cleaned heatproof jug, through a mesh strainer. Discard strips and zest. Cover jug with plastic wrap and refrigerate until custard is thoroughly chilled.
Pour custard into the bowl of an ice-cream machine and churn until mixture is thick and creamy. Transfer ice-cream into a silicone mould and freeze overnight, until set. Just before serving, remove ice-cream from freezer and allow it to soften a little.
To make kaffir lime-leaf sugar, combine lime-leaf powder and sugar, and set aside.
Meanwhile, to make chocolate lace biscuits, preheat oven to 160°C. Place butter and icing sugar in a large bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Sift flour and cocoa powder into bowl and add orange juice and zest. Mix thoroughly with butter mixture until smooth.
Drop teaspoons of mixture, at least 12cm apart, onto baking trays lined with silicone mats or greased non-stick baking paper. Spread mixture thinly with a lightly wetted finger into 6cm discs or ovals. Sprinkle a few cocoa nibs over each disc.
Bake in batches for 8 minutes or until they have spread out with plenty of holes in mixture, and are lacy around edges. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 1 to 2 minutes or until slightly firm. Carefully lift biscuits, one at a time, off the mats or sheets with a palette knife while they are still warm and malleable, and drape carefully around a rolling pin, nib-side up.
To serve, scoop balls of ice-cream into biscuits and sprinkle with lime-leaf sugar.