Passion Fruit Parfait

Prep time: about 45 minutes, plus 4 hours of freezing

Ingredients (serves 4):

Passion Fruit Parfait

1 vanilla pod

3 large egg yolks

50 g sugar

2 passion fruit

4 tbsp meringue crumbs (about the size of a hazelnut,

possibly extra for sprinkling on top)

200 g whipping cream

Reduction

400 ml red wine (such as Cabernet Sauvignon)

50-75 g sugar

1 organic orange

1 piece of fresh ginger (about 1 cm/0.5 inch))

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 star anise pod

1-2 tsp cornstarch (if necessary)

plus: 4 ramekins of about 100 ml

For the parfait, slice the vanilla pod lengthwise, scrape out the pulp with a knife, and put into a large metal bowl together with the egg yolks and the sugar. Whisk over a hot bain-marie - this rarely takes more than 4 minutes, even by hand. The mixture will be foamy, then creamy.

Set the bowl into ice-cold water and keep beating until the egg creme has cooled down. Halve the passion fruit, scoop out the pulp and seeds, and stir into the creme with the meringue crumbs. Beat the whipping cream until stiff. First fold in one-third of it into the creme, then gently fold the rest into it so that it remains fluffy. Fill into the ramekins and freeze for

at least 4 hours.

In the meantime, boil the wine and sugar for the reduction in a pan. Wash the orange in hot water and peel 2-3 stripes of the zest with the potatoe peeler and add to the wine. Squeeze out the orange and pour the juice in through a sieve. Peel the ginger, cut into slices, and also add with the cinnamon and anise. Boil everything down to at least half the volume over medium heat in 20-30 minutes. If the reduction is still too liquid, stir the cornstarch with 2-3 tbsp of cold water until smooth before mixing it into the reduction, which should now be simmering. (The reduction gets even thicker when it cools down, so a bit of intuition is required here). Remove from the stove and let it cool down. The consistency is perfect when the reduction drips from the spoon like runny honey.

Dip the ramekins into hot water for a few seconds before serving. Then run a knife along the edge and loosen the parfait before turning it upside down on the plates. Let it thaw for a few minutes - that's the only way it will develop its full creaminess - and sprinkle with the reduction. If you like, you can also sprinkle a few meringue crumbs on it. By the way, the parfait can be easily kept in the freezer compartment for several days. It's a dessert you can make in advance for special occasions.

(Recipe and picture source: delicious days)