If you want to bring a South West / Gers style to your sweets, you’re in the right spot. Gers is mainly linked to duck and savory meals. There are only a few sweet treats known: chocolate is not a local favorite, the idea of using legumes for a festive sweet is not accepted (at least not by my husband), foie gras for dessert. oh no. and citrus fruits can’t be grown here yet (though I have a little Yuzu that is thriving in the Mediterranean area of the garden.).
If you’re looking for a South Western sweet, help can come from one of the main drinks made here: the Floc de Gascogne! Alcohol-based sweets have fallen out of favor since top chefs started using exotic products brought in by air (passion fruit, mango, Asian citrus fruits, expensive spices) while they were commonly used «before» to give local flavors to sweets. Just think of rum pancakes, Mamamia. In desserts that use alcohol, there’s zabaglione (see Wikipedia), a creamy dish served warm, but also semi-frozen semifreddo, a type of light eggnog made with whipped egg whites that is then frozen. I instantly loved the idea of Floc de Gascogne ice cream semifreddo because it is a fragrant yet light sweet and ideal (no joke intended) to finish a big meal.
I found an economical recipe for “a sunny lunch”, and then adapted it with a touch of Gers: floc de Gascogne instead of rum or grand marnier, some raisins marinated in the floc for a touch of chew. The preparation is not complicated and can be done in advance. When you taste it, honestly, it’s a little bomb of indulgence: it’s a creamy, light ice cream, not too sweet. The flock carries a lot of perfume, the grapes a hint of sugar, and the whole thing almost has a taste of go back («eat me», «eat me», eat me»…). My husband and I classify it more in the “adult desserts” category because the flavor can be a little difficult to grasp for (not so) little foodies. The latter will undoubtedly prefer a chocolate and mascarpone log with simpler flavours. However, it will delight others, especially those who prefer a lighter dessert than a pastry.
Here it is, it is with great pleasure that I share the recipe with you. If you are trying it for the holidays, don’t hesitate to prepare it a few days in advance, it will make your task easier. Have a good start of the week!
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Recipe: Frozen parfait with Floc de Gascogne
Recipe season: All year round
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
# Ingredients
For 6 people / 6 perfect (depending on the size of your molds):
- 30 ml of Gascony flakes
- 1 tablespoon Armagnac
- 300 g of full cream ((put in the fridge the day before))
- 3 egg yolks
- 50 g of dried grapes
- For the caramel decoration: sugar
# Realization
For the frozen semifreddo
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- Collect the cold cream then whip it until it rises and forms a bird’s beak. Put it back in the fridge. (Note: If you used a mixer, put the cream in a bowl, wash the mixer bowl/whisk and prepare it for step 3)
- Place the egg yolks, sugar and alcohol in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a very low heat and blend the mixture until it doubles in volume, whitens slightly and takes on the appearance of a smooth cream (zabaglione). Be careful, it takes its time, it takes 5 minutes without stopping whipping (1).
- Then remove from the heat: continue stirring until the zabaglione has cooled.
- or pour the mixture into the bowl of your food processor and operate the whisk until the zabaglione has cooled
- Add the whipped cream to the zabaglione until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous cream. Carefully drain the raisins, add them to the mixture and mix to distribute them.
- Pour the mixture into muffin molds (individual version) or into a narrow cake mold (family version).
- Store in the freezer for at least half a day.
- Remove the frozen semifreddo from the freezer a few minutes before turning it out and serving it. Serve with old-fashioned macaroons if you have time to make them.
Decorations
- For the big day don’t hesitate to make some small decorations. For those in the photo: Prepare the caramel, then on a silpat-type baking tray, form «rows» with the help of a fork. Once cooled, break them into pieces.
- Make a caramel and dip some walnuts/hazelnuts/almonds to coat them. Cool on a silpat baking tray.
# Suggestions
- (1) When preparing eggnog, limit interruptions in the «creaming» process as much as possible because the eggnog settles very quickly. Keep in mind that you don’t need to go as quickly as whipping egg whites, so moderate your efforts to continue doing this over time.
- In advance: Don’t hesitate to prepare these semifreddos a few days in advance and store them in the freezer. In this case, remember to wrap the upper part of the mussels in cling film to prevent them from taking on a «freezer flavour» or place them in an airtight container after they have solidified.
- Variant: You can replace the alcohol with rum or grand marnier. For the non-alcoholic version replace with orange juice (doubling the quantities)
- variant : add the chopped toasted walnuts to the zabaglione preparation
- Cuter: If you have one, don’t hesitate to put your ice cream parfaits in small brioche molds (individual version) or in kouglof/bundt cake molds (individual version). family). These shapes will be more decoratedS.
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