Warm almond savarin, with local blackberries, rosemary and lemon curd

At the Resort, we are very much blessed to have an array of ingredients available in our wooded areas and hedgerows, at this time of year it’s blackberries so we have created a fitting dessert to showcase them.

This cake finds its way on to the menu in the River Room throughout the year in a few different forms, in this instance, it’s baked in individual savarin moulds, brushed with amaretto, filled with a blackberry and cassis compote and served with a rosemary sugar crisp and lemon curd. Frozen lemon curd creates an ice cream to contrast the warm temperature of the cake and blackberries.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Almond cakes:

50g butter 

250g sugar

50g ground almonds 

25g flour

2 eggs

50gml amaretto liquor 

Lemon Curd:

4 eggs

150g sugar

130ml cream

5 lemons, juice +zest

Sugar Crisp:

Few sprigs of rosemary

100g sugar 

50ml glucose

100ml water

Blackberries:

250g blackberries

50ml creme de cassis

80-100g sugar.

Method:

For the sugar crisps

In a heavy saucepan combine the sugar, glucose and rosemary with the water and boil to around 160oc. Pour the hot sugar mix on to a sheet of greaseproof paper, being extremely careful not to spill it, and allow to cool. Once cooled, blend in a food processor to a fine dust and using a sieve, dust the mix back on to the tray in a very thin layer. This can then be melted into a glass like sheet in a low oven, and broke in shards or cut to shape.

For the lemon curd 

Bring a pot of water to the boil, place all the ingredients in a metal or heatproof bowl and gently whisk together over the water being careful not to overcook the lemon curd, allowing it to slowly thicken and removing the bowl if necessary for a few minutes at a time. Once ready set aside and cover.

Half of this can now be churned in an ice cream machine to create an ice cream like frozen curd, but this is not essential for the dish.

For the almond cakes

In a food mixer or a bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy using a whisk, add the eggs and continue to whisk one egg at a time. Finally, add the amaretto and ground almonds. Allow the mix to rest in the fridge until cool. Using a pastry brush, apply a thin layer of butter to the cake moulds and dust with more ground almonds, pipe the mix into the moulds until around 1.5 cm deep. Bake the cakes in a preheated oven at 175oc for around 15 minutes or until a small knife can be inserted into the cake and removed cleanly.

For the blackberries

In a saucepan, add half the blackberries, cassis and sugar to a little water and cook until it becomes thick and sticky, allow to cool slightly the fold in the remaining blackberries.

To assemble the dish, place a few spoonsful of the lemon curd on a plate followed by the warm cakes on top, fill the centre hole of each cake with the blackberry mix the top with the sugar crisp.

If using ice cream, add a few ground almonds on top of the sugar followed by a scoop of the ice cream to hold it in place.

Wine Recommendation | Seifried, 'Sweet Agnes' Riesling, Nelson, New Zealand

About the wine

Using 100% Riesling fruit, the grapes were hand-selected at the peak of ripeness with a large portion of the fruit shrivelled and raisined, caused by natural dehydration. The grapes were then gently pressed to release a very concentrated intensely flavoured juice. The grapes were picked, pressed, and fermented in batches as grapes were selected during several passes through the vineyard.

The fermentation was initiated immediately and continued for about three weeks. During this time, the ferment parcels were monitored and tasted regularly. The young wine was then blended and stabilised before bottling in August 2016. The residual sugar in the wine is 175g/L.

Tasting note

Late-harvested grapes were selectively hand-picked during several passes through the vineyard to select the ripest berries. Intense and luscious tropical fruit, apricot and orange zest flavours with little evidence of botrytis. A deliciously varietal wine that is sweet but perfectly balanced with tangy acidity.

The 2016 Seifried Winemakers Collection Sweet Agnes Riesling is pure and powerful. The nose has a mandarin peel and floral notes, while the palate is luscious with bright fruit balanced by natural acidity. Succulent fruit sweetness wraps around the crisp acid backbone leaving a long, exceptionally generous finish - the perfect way to finish a meal. Enjoy!