Licorice Ice-cream & Meringue

Total Time: 3 hrs 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 12 egg yolks
• 200 g caster sugar
• 500 ml milk
• 2 cups pouring cream
• 175 g soft licorice, chopped
• 4 egg whites
• 220 g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon cornflour
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Recipe

• 1 for licorice ice-cream,
• 2 using an electric mixer, whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale.
• 3 combine milk and cream in a saucepan and bring to just below the boil, then, whisking continuously, pour cream mixture into yolk mixture and combine well.
• 4 return mixture to same pan, then stir over low heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon;
• 5 do not boil.
• 6 remove from heat, pour into a large bowl and cool slightly.
• 7 meanwhile, place licorice in a saucepan with 100ml water and stir over low heat for 10-12 minutes or until mixture forms a paste (it doesn't matter if there are still a few lumps in the paste).
• 8 add paste to warm custard, then, using a blender, blend until smooth and well combined.
• 9 strain mixture into a bowl, cool, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.
• 10 freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
• 11 for meringue:.
• 12 using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form,
• 13 then gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition.
• 14 add cream of tartar, cornflour and vinegar and whisk for another 30 seconds or until just combined.
• 15 using a spatula, spread mixture over 2 baking paper-lined oven trays to 4mm-thick and cook at 120c for 2½-3 hours or until meringue is firm but not brown.
• 16 remove from oven, then, being careful as meringue is very delicate,
• 17 cut meringue into twelve 5x15cm rectangles and cool completely;
• 18 don't worry if some shards break as the quantity of meringue will allow for this.
• 19 sandwich scoops of ice-cream between shards of meringue and serve immediately.