Today is the fifth anniversary (or should that be birthday?) of A Spoonful of Sugar!  I can’t believe that it’s been five years since I first posted—about my stollen, if you were curious.  I still remember how nervous I was, and how I wondered if anyone other than family, friends or colleagues would read my little blog.  And then, slowly, ever so slowly, people started to arrive.  Clotilde, Alberto, Renee (of the sadly now defunct Shiokadelicious.com), Deb… So many people have come and gone over the years, and I’ve loved getting to know them all!

This year has been particularly fantastic, with very special means at both The Fat Duck and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, a weekend cookery course in Devon, and plenty of foodie outings.  I’m still thrilled beyond belief at the morning I spent at Perry & Son butchering half a pig—I’m looking forward to picking up my Christmas loin of pork—and I don’t think I’ll ever forget how wonderful it was to pick my own apples at Our Small Farm.  Definitely a great year!

So I’d like to say a big thank-you! to everyone who has visited A Spoonful of Sugar over the years, encouraged me to try new foods and techniques, suggesting suppliers and telling me about fantastic new restaurants.  Thank-you, all!

And now for dessert!  I did think about reprising the stollen for this birthday post, but when I spotted some incredibly early rhubarb in the farm shop, I knew I had to make something special with it.  I’m not a girly-girl, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anything pink in my wardrobe, however… I find the lurid pink of forced rhubarb impossible to resist.

The recipe which follows is a slight reworking of ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ from John Campbell’s fantastic book, Formulas for Flavour.  I tried the original recipe last year and unfortunately it didn’t go so well due to the wrong size of rings, a too-runny centre, and a rather horrid ginger sponge base. However, the flavours were fantastic!  So, I’ve swapped the frozen creme anglaise in the original recipe for a frozen creme brulee, replaced the ginger sponge with a thin slice of stem ginger cake and pared down the garnishes as I thought it was quite beautiful already.  I won’t lie to you, this dessert is a lot of work, but I felt the occasion warranted all the dirty dishes and utensils.

The rhubarb mousse is so light and fluffy with a great balance between sharp rhubarb and sweet, creamy mousse.  Nestling in the mousse is the custard component, beautifully speckled with vanilla, and silky smooth and pairing beautifully with the layer of rhubarb geleé below.  Last, but by no means least, is the stem ginger base which I loved, but Dave would have preferred something crunchy.  Perhaps some sort of feuillete?

‘Rhubarb and Custard’

Note: Each recipe component will have leftovers.  The stem ginger cake makes two little cakes, but it does freeze beautifully (or you could douse it in toffee sauce and custard for a delicious pud.)  I did scale back the rhubarb compote etc when I made the dessert but forgot to write down my quantities, so have included the original recipes which make enough for six desserts.

Stem ginger cake

Source: Jamie Oliver for Tefal

• 100g unsalted butter
• 80g dark muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 1 large egg
• 75ml full-fat milk
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped stem (preserved in syrup) ginger

Preheat the oven to 170C (150C fan oven.)  Grease and line two large chef’s rings and set on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.

Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together in a small pan over a low heat.  Set aside to cool.

Whisk together the egg and milk, then beat into the butter mixture.  Stir in the flour, and gingers to make a soft batter.  Divide between the prepared tins and bake for 35-40 minutes until risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

Creme brulee insert

Makes 2

• 1 large egg yolk
• 18g caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 125ml double cream

Preheat oven to 110C (90C fan-oven.)  Grease two ramekins with unsalted butter and sprinkle caster sugar over, to coat lightly.  Gently tap out the excess.

Heat cream to boiling point.  Meanwhile, gently whisk together the rest of the ingredients in a small jug.  Don’t whisk to a foam; we want the mixture to remain smooth.  When cream boils, remove from heat and pour into the egg mixture in a steady stream, whisking constantly.  When mixture is combined, divide between the ramekins.

Bake for 30 minutes until lightly set.

Allow to cool, then freeze until solid before using.  To release the frozen brulee, dip the ramekins in some boiling water, run the tip of a knife round the edges and they should pop right out.  Stick back in the freezer to firm up any melting edges.

Rhubarb Compote

Source: Formulas for Flavour by John Campbell

• 1kg rhubarb
• 200ml stock syrup
• 1 sheet gelatine
• a squeeze of lemon juice

Cut away the splayed ends of the rhubarb and cut into 1 inch (2.5cm) chunks.

In a large saucepan, bring the stock syrup to the boil.  Add the rhubarb, return to the boil and immediately remove the pan from the heat so that the rhubarb cooks in the residual heat.  (The rhubarb needs to cook in one layer, so you may need to cook it in batches if you don’t have a wide enough pan.)

When the rhubarb is tender, remove it from the syrup and drain well.  Reserve at least 4 tablespoons of the cooking syrup to use to finish the compote later.  Set aside 800g of cooked rhubarb for use in the coulis and store the remainder of the rhubarb in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Rhubarb Coulis

Source: Formulas for Flavour by John Campbell

• 800g rhubarb compote
• 400g sugar

Put the reserved 800g of rhubarb from the compote in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Transfer to a small pan, add the sugar and heat slowly to a boil  Cook until the rhubarb thickens and has reduced in volume by one-third.  Remove from the heat and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Rhubarb Mousse

Source: Adapted from Formulas for Flavour by John Campbell

• 3 sheets gelatine
• 125ml rhubarb coulis
• 2 large egg whites
• 100g caster sugar
• 125ml double cream, half-whipped

Melt the caster sugar with 40ml water in a small saucepan.  When sugar has dissolved, bring to the boil for two minutes.  When syrup is about to boil, place the egg whites in bowl of stand mixer and start whisking on high speed.  When syrup is ready, pour into a jug.  Slowly trickle the hot syrup into the egg whites.  Avoid splashing the syrup on the whisk.  Once all syrup is in, you should have a firm meringue.  Whisk on low until the bowl is cool to the touch.  This should take about five minutes.

While meringue cools, soften the gelatine in some cold water.  Heat a quarter of the rhubarb coulis in a small pan while the gelatine blooms.  Squeeze out excess water from the gelatine and stir it into the hot coulis until melted.  Stir the remainder of the coulis into the saucepan, mix, and then into the Italian meringue. Whisk briefly to combine.  Then quickly fold in the half-whipped double cream.

Assembly

Soak the gelatine for the compote in a small bowl of water.  Meanwhile, using the chefs rings or drainpipe moulds, cut the stem ginger cake into discs and place one in the base of each mould, ensuring a tight fit.

Heat the reserved 4 tbsp of syrup, add the soaked gelatine and stir to dissolve.  Mix the syrup with the reserved rhubarb compote, adding a squeeze of lemon.

Divide the compote between the moulds, making an even layer on top of the sponge.  Place in the fridge to set.

When the rhubarb compote has set, remove the moulds from the fridge and take the creme brulee inserts out of the freezer.  Spoon a small layer of mousse on top of the compote and then carefully place a frozen brulee disc inside the mould, ensuring it does not touch the edges.

Fill the moulds up with the rhubarb mousse and level the top with a palette knife for a smooth finish.  Place the mousses in the fridge to set for up to 2 hours.