the cold world Starts again after her birthday

after 4 weeks of fun and play. it's now time to face the cold reality of a sick dying world in cold cold Melbourne.

Got sick in the last week with the GF, and now getting better. though at the moment have got a headache that i refuse to medicate.

made a hazelnut parfait for the GF's birthday. it's like a hazelnut ice cream of sorts and took me 3 hours.

here's the recipe:

Yes! i took the picture. and i made that!

Honey and hazelnut parfait with chocolate sauce
Fantasy and inspiration, in the setting, at table, in the food
Ingredients for 12 portions:
For the chocolate sauce:

• unsweetened cocoa 8 g
• flour 4 g
• sugar 40 g
• milk 100 g
• Chopped baking chocolate 30g

For the Italian meringue:

• sugar 200 g
• egg white 100 g
• water 80 g

For the parfait:

• egg yolks 2
• sugar 50 g
• milk 165 g
• flour 8 g
• butter 5 g
• isinglass 4 g
• dairy cream 165 g
• Piedmont hazelnuts 80 g

Piedmont hazelnuts 20 g
honey 50 g
sugar 100 g
Start the chocolate sauce by mixing the ingredients cold, except for the baking chocolate. Heat over a low flame and bring to boiling. Remove from the burner and add the chopped baking chocolate; stir well until it dissolves. Cool and set aside.

Make the Italian meringue by boiling the sugar with water, bringing the mixture to 120° C. Beat the egg whites until stiff; add the sugar syrup and amalgamate the mixture until it cools.

For the parfait, soak the isinglass in a little cold water. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, the flour and the melted butter. Combine mixture with the boiling milk; mix well and remove from the heat when it reaches boiling. At this point squeeze the water from the isinglass and add along with the cream.

Toast the hazelnuts in the oven for a few minutes; allow to cool. Chop 80 g of hazelnuts, pass through a sieve and add to the base of the parfait, together with the cold meringue. Pour mixture into single-portion moulds and put in the freezer for at least 6-8 hours.

Cook the sugar with the honey at 156° C and caramelise the remaining 20 g of toasted hazelnuts. With the rest of the sugar, form skeins of candy floss using the tines of a fork.

Turn out the parfaits on a plate and decorate with the chocolate sauce, the caramelised hazelnuts and the candy floss.

from:

<http://www.thi-hotels.com/hotels/golden-palace/restaurant/chef-recipes/honey-and-hazelnut-parfait-with-chocolate-sauce.html>

i modified a bit: used gelatin instead of isinglass, and added choc to the parfait to make it more brown.

better go to sleep soon before the headache gets worse