Flavours of Fern: Carrot Trifle

Words by Paul Welburn

Paul Welburn at Fern

Award-winning chef, Paul Welburn selects three recipes that showcase his culinary artistry as he takes the reins at a new restaurant in Nanstallon.

Carrot Trifle

Serves 6

Method

For the Carrot Cake:

Preheat the oven to 160°C. In a KitchenAid (or equivalent with a paddle attachment), cream the eggs and sugar until soft and pale. Add the oil and the crème fraîche and beat together. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients and grated carrot until all mixed and coated, then add to the creamed sugar mixture, using the paddle attachment to incorporate. Line a Le Creuset terrine mould (or similar sized loaf tin) with parchment paper and pour in the mix. Tap the tin to flatten. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and the cake feels springy to the touch. You can also insert a skewer to check if it comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, then remove and allow to completely cool on a cooling rack. Place in the fridge for 2 hours to firm up, then cut into 2cm slices. Take a 60mm ring cutter and cut a ring from each piece. Store in an airtight container until required. 

For the Custard:

In a medium sauce pan, bring the milk and cream to the boil then add the crushed tonka beans (vanilla pod cut and scraped if using instead). Remove from the heat, cover with cling film and allow to infuse overnight. After the mix is infused, pass the tonka beans using a fine sieve and place into a new sauce pan and add the sugar. Bring to a boil then, with a whisk, pour over the egg yolks. Turn the heat down and gently cook the custard until it reaches 80°C, stirring with a spatula all the time. Once the custard has reached 80°C and has visibly thickened, which can take 5–10 minutes, pour the custard into a bowl and cover with cling film. Press down over the cling film so it’s touching the surface to avoid a skin forming. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours or until fully cooled, then place the chilled custard in a cream whipper canister and charge with the cream whipper gas charge. Shake well and store in the fridge until required. 

For the Sorbet:

In a sauce pan, add all the ingredients and bring all to a boil to activate the agar agar. Place into an ice cream machine and churn before transferring to a container and leaving in the freezer until required.

For the Walnuts:

In a sauce pan add the water and sugar and bring to the boil. Add the walnuts and bring back to the boil. Reduce until sticky then remove from heat add the salt. Stir the mixture and as the caramel cools it will crystalise and coat the nuts. Once it has crystalised, turn onto a tray and allow to cool fully at room temperature, this may take an hour or so. Once cooled, chop roughly into a crumble.

For the Grape Gel:

Blend the red grapes in a liquidiser and pass through a fine sieve to extract the juice. Measure 400ml of the grape juice, place into a medium sauce pan, add the agar agar and bring to the boil to activate. Once boiled, pour the mixture into tray and allow to set in the fridge for an hour. Once set, chop up the set jelly, place into a liquidiser and blend to a smooth gel. Before serving, combine the sliced red grapes with the grape gel.

To Serve:

On a serving plate, add a disc of carrot cake. Top with a good spoon of the grapes in grape gel and pat down. Add a sprinkling of candied walnuts followed by a good scoop of carrot sorbet. Encase the dish with the aerated tonka custard and a dusting of carrot powder. Serve immediately. 

Ingredients:

For the Carrot Cake:

250g wholemeal flour 

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp ground nutmeg 

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon 

300g carrot, grated

350g soft brown sugar

3 eggs

55g crème fraîche

160g sunflower oil

For the Tonka Custard:

250g whole milk 

250g cream

5g tonka beans, crushed (1 vanilla pod as an alternative)

75g caster sugar 

125g egg yolk

1 x No2 cream whipper gas charger 

For the Carrot Sorbet:

300ml carrot juice

50g glucose

50g caster sugar

2g agar agar

For the Candid Walnuts:

100g walnuts 

100g water

100g caster sugar 

Pinch of smoked Maldon sea salt 

For the Grape Gel:

500g red grapes (keep a few back to slice for garnish)

5g agar agar

Reserved red grapes, sliced into thin discs 

ferncornwall.co.uk