Pamper the love of your life by indulging in this exotic refreshing dessert after a relaxing sauna at a couple’s spa in the heart of Stockholm this 14th February… an impressive way to top off a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner date!
Ingredients:
40 g dried sago* pearls
200 ml coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp + 1 tsp honey
90 ml water
8 slices tinned peach halves, pureed
24 fresh black berries**
24 fresh raspberries**
60 ml + 3 tsp brandy
2 tbsp caster sugar
5 fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced
2 sprig tips of fresh mint
Notes:
* Available in Asian groceries, sago pearls are made from starch extracted from various tropical palm stems as a staple food for the New Guinea and the Moluccas.
** Can replace half with frozen berries for making the coulis, and the other half with tinned pineapples and cherries for tossing in the coulis.
Instructions:
- Leave sago, coconut milk, vanilla essence, 1 tbsp honey and water in a pot to stand for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the coulis by heating a saucepan with ½ the fresh berries, 60 ml brandy, sugar and 1 tsp honey over a medium flame till sugar dissolves and berries begin to breakdown; next pureeing before setting aside to cool and thicken.
- After standing for that 30 minutes, bring the pot’s mixture to boil, stirring occasionally; next reducing the heat to keep stirring till all the sago pearls turn translucent and the mixture thickens.
- Divide the cooked sago mixture between 2 dessert bowls and refrigerate for 1 hour to set it.
- Divide the peach puree between the set dessert bowls; refrigerating till ready for the final plating.
- To prepare to plate, stir 3 tsp brandy into the cooled coulis before tossing it with the remaining fresh berries.
- To plate a dessert bowl, scatter ½ the sliced mint over the peach puree before heaping ½ the coulis-tossed berries in the center; garnishing with a sprig tip of mint.
Serves 2