You’ll have some ice-cream left over after making this, but it’s delicious eaten on its own. Serves six.
For the ice-cream
625ml full-fat milk
175ml double cream
50g milk powder
1 vanilla pod, slit open and seeds scraped
30g tonka beans
4 egg yolks
125g caster sugar
For the milk soil
45g plain flour
½ tsp cornflour
40g caster sugar
30g milk powder
40g unsalted butter, melted
½ tsp coarse sea salt
For the ganache
250g chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly broken into 2cm pieces
150g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm dice, plus extra for greasing the dish
1 large egg, plus 3 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
½ tsp pink peppercorns, ground in a spice grinder
First make the ice-cream. Put the milk, cream, milk powder, vanilla pod and seeds, and tonka beans in a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat, and cook for six to seven minutes, stirring a few times, until just coming to the boil. Remove from the heat and set aside for five minutes, to infuse.
Put the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until creamy and pale. Using a ladle, spoon a little bit of the hot cream mix on to the eggs and sugar, whisking continuously as you pour. Continue with the remaining cream, until everything is incorporated. Wipe clean your saucepan and pour in the custard. Place on a medium heat and cook for 15 minutes, stirring continuously, until you get a light custard consistency; don’t overcook, or the custard will split. Cover the custard with clingfilm to stop a skin forming and set aside for three to four hours, to cool. Strain, discarding the tonka beans and vanilla pod, then pour the custard into an ice cream machine. Churn for about 35 minutes, until semi-frozen but still creamy. Transfer to a cold plastic container and freeze. Remove from the freezer five minutes before serving.
To make the milk soil, put the flour, cornflour, sugar and milk powder in a bowl, along with half a teaspoon of salt. Mix, then slowly pour in the melted butter. Using a wooden spoon first and then the tips of your fingers, mix it comes together in a crumble-like texture, then spread out on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until just turning golden-brown at the edges. Don’t worry if some of the mix clumps together: you’ll be able to break it back into crumble once it has cooled and set. Remove from the oven – the mix will be still be moist but will firm up as it cools – and set aside.
Heat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Line six 7-8cm high-sided rings with parchment paper. Place these on a parchment-lined baking tray and set aside.
To make the ganache, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan half full of simmering water; take care that the water does not touch the base of the bowl. Keep on the heat for about five minutes, stirring and folding the mixture every now and then, until the chocolate is melted and shiny. Remove from the heat, stir in the ground peppercorns, then set aside to cool.
Put the egg, egg yolks and sugar in an electric mixer bowl and whisk for five to six minutes, until thick, light and foamy. In stages, carefully fold the egg into the chocolate, taking care not to overwork the mixture, then divide between the ring moulds. Bake for about seven minutes, until the surface is opaque but the middle has a slight wobble. Remove and set aside to cool.
When you are ready to serve, put one chocolate pudding on each plate. Top with a scoop of ice-cream, sprinkle with the milk soil and serve.
- Nopi: The Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully, is published next week by Ebury Press at £28. To order a copy for £18, go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846.
