THE DAIRY KITCHEN
Chai Granita on Poached Apples and Heavenly Mousse
By Julia Wharington - Paddock 2 Pixel
Serves
8
Difficulty
Medium
Preparation
20 MINS
Cooking
35 MINS
Here is a recipe for a light, refreshing, melt in the mouth skim milk granita flavoured with chai spices. It may be served on its own, or layered with fruit, custard or mousse.
Ingredients
400ml Australian skim milk20g caster sugar
1 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
8 allspice berries
8 black peppercorns
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
½ vanilla bean, split
2 teaspoons black tea leaves
100g caster sugar, extra
400ml water
4 small apples, peeled and finely diced
2 tablespoons honey
2 cinnamon sticks, extra
½ vanilla bean, extra, split
1 egg white
40g caster sugar, extra
90ml Australian thickened cream
½ vanilla bean, extra, split and seeds scraped
¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Handy Tips
Experiment with your own blend of spices to make a chai tea to your liking. If spices are hard to find, a commercial chai tea steeped in skim milk will also work.
Method
- Heat milk together with sugar, ginger, allspice, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla in a small saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in tea leaves and stand for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a shallow bowl and place the bowl into an ice bath to cool. Transfer to freezer and remove every 20 minutes and stir to ensure the liquid crystallises evenly. The granita will be fully frozen in approximately 3 hours.
- Melt extra 100g sugar in a saucepan to make a caramel. Brush any sugar off the sides of the pan to prevent it from burning. Once dark golden, remove pan from heat and slowly stir in water. Once all the sugar lumps have dissolved, add apple, honey, extra cinnamon and extra vanilla. Cook over a low heat until the apples are just tender. Strain through a sieve and chill apples until required.
- For the mousse, heat the egg white and remaining sugar over a water bath while continuously whisking. Once 50°C has been reached, remove from the heat and use an electric mixer to beat to a stiff meringue. In a separate bowl, beat the cream, vanilla seeds and cinnamon, if desired, to medium peaks, then fold through the meringue.
- To assemble the dessert, pipe mousse into 8 x 150ml dessert glasses, top with some poached apple and just before serving, finish with a dome of chai granita.
