Spiced Coconut Bavarois
This festive, albeit light, Spiced Coconut Bavarois makes a delicately boozy and delightfully aromatic dessert to eat on New Year's Day --like we did!-- or to end any Sunday Lunch, really! Have a good one!
Ingredients (serves 6 to 8):
5 leaves gelatin
400 millilitres/13.5 fluid ounces coconut milk
6 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Tonka Bean
2 tablespoons white rum (like Guadeloupe's Damoiseau)
400 millilitres/13.5 fluid ounces coconut cream (very cold)
half a fresh, ripe, sweet pineapple
a quarter of a small, ripe pomegranate
Place gelatin leaves in a small bowl of cold water, to soak. Set aside.
Pour coconut milk in a large saucepan, and bring to a simmer over a medium flame.
Meanwhile, combine egg yolks, caster sugar, ground ginger and ground cinnamon in a medium bowl. Grate in about 1/4 teaspoon Tonka Bean.
Whisk energetically until mixture becomes pale yellow and fluffy, and falls from the whisk like a ribbon.
Once the coconut milk is just simmering, gradually pour it into the egg yolk mixture, whisking until smooth and perfectly blended.
Pour mixture back into the saucepan, and return over a medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon, until mixture thickens like a custard, and coats the wooden spoon, for about 10 minutes.
Thoroughly squeeze the water out of the gelatin leaves, and stir them into the hot coconut custard until completely melted. Stir in the rum, and remove from the heat.
Allow to cool completely.
Rinse a pudding basin under cold water, and fit it with cling film, letting it overhang on the edges. Set aside.
Pour cold coconut cream into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer, gradually increasing speed to high, until soft peaks form. Continue beating on high speed, until stiff peaks just from.
Gently fold in coconut whipped cream, one third at a time, into cooled rum coconut custard, until well-combined and no white streak remains.
Gently spoon mixture into prepared pudding basin, folding the cling film on top. Place in the refrigerator, and chill, at least 12 hours to overnight.
Just before serving, cut slices of fresh pineapple, removing the hard core, and halving them.
Release pomegranate seeds from the fruit, removing any white skin.
Gently upturn coconut bavarois onto serving plate, and carefully remove cling film. Garnish with pineapple slices and pomegranate seeds.
Serve Spiced Coconut Bavarois with chilled Champagne!