Coffee granita and vin santo sabayon

This sweet treat places texture front and centre stage - light, icy coffee crystals meets a light, aerated sabayon piped over the top for a dramatic finish. From one of Australia's most celebrated chefs, Peter Gilmore, this is refinery at it's best, but surprisingly achievable to make for home cooks, for a make-ahead dessert that delivers sophistication with a boost of caffeine!

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Series. Cooking. Rated PG.

Stream free On Demand

The Cook Up with Adam Liaw

series • CookingPG

Ingredients

Sabayon

• 200 g egg yolks
• 250 g caster sugar
• 150 ml vin santo
• 2 g salt
• 600 g thin cream, lightly whipped

For the espresso granita

• 125 g espresso
• 75 g muscovado sugar
• 75 g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 3 cups (750 ml) water

Freezing time: 12 hours

Instructions

1. To make the espresso granita, bring all the ingredients to a simmer in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Pour into a 30 cm x 20 cm rectangular container and cool completely in the refrigerator. Once chilled, pour into a shallow tray with a depth of 3 cm and freeze for 12 hours, removing every 2-3 hours to scrape with a fork to form the granita crystals, until light, fluffy ice crystals form.
2. To make the coffee sabayon, combine the egg yolks, sugar, vin santo and salt in a large heatproof bowl. Prepare a bain marie (a large saucepan that snugly fits the bowl over the top) of simmering water. Place the bowl over the simmering water and whisk until the mixture reaches the ribbon stage at 82˚C.
3. Allow to cool over a second large bowl of ice, until completely chilled. Once chilled, pass through a fine mesh sieve, then weigh the mixture. Gently mix an equal weight of whipped cream through the sabayon, then transfer 700 g of the mixture to a syphon gun. Charge the syphon gun with 2 chargers and lightly shake.
4. Divide the coffee granita between serving glasses and pipe over the coffee sabayon.

Want more from The Cook Up? Stream all the seasons here and for free at SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.