Our winning special occasion desserts recipe is by Bradley Spratt. Bradley won us over with his recipe created especially for the competition to showcase Nelson nectarines and late harvest riesling. It is an outstanding combination that has perked up some very tired tiramisu palates in the Bite kitchen. Serve with the remaining sweet riesling.
Nectarines
¾ cup | Riesling, choose a late harvest one, plus 1 Tbsp (Main) |
1 | Orange, zest and juice of |
1 | Lemon, zest and juice of |
¼ cup | Sugar |
6 | Nectarines (Main) |
Filling
2 | Eggs, separated |
200 g | Mascarpone |
100 ml | Cream |
¼ cup | Icing sugar |
1 Tbsp | Riesling |
1 | Lemon, zest of |
1 cup | White chocolate, finely grated (Main) |
200 g | Savoiardi biscuits, (Italian finger biscuits) |
Directions
- Place ¾ cup of the dessert wine, orange and lemon zest, juice and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring a couple of times to dissolve the sugar.
- Quarter the nectarines, removing the stones. Add to the saucepan, reduce the heat, cover and gently poach until nectarines are quite soft, but not collapsing. Remove the pieces of nectarine from the syrup, using a slotted spoon. Set aside to cool. Pour the poaching liquid into a separate shallow dish and set aside to cool.
- For the filling, place the egg yolks, mascarpone, cream, icing sugar, 1 Tbsp dessert wine and finely grated lemon zest into a large bowl. Beat until mixture thickens.
- In a clean bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites together with ½ cup of the finely grated white chocolate into mascarpone mixture until just combined.
- To assemble, dip the sponge finger biscuits briefly (so they do not become soggy) in to the reserved, cooled poaching liquid. Arrange in the base of a serving bowl. Top with the poached nectarines and spoon the mascarpone mixture over. Depending on the shape of your serving bowl you may need to repeat these layers. Sprinkle over the remaining ½ cup of finely grated white chocolate. Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours, or preferably overnight.
See the two runner-up entries
Have a look atall the competition entries