christmas bombe
This spectacular combination of vivid raspberry sorbet and creamy, fragrant ice cream has now become our customary Christmas Day dessert. It can be made well ahead, which makes for a more relaxed end to the meal for the cook – but, note that you must make it at least 1 day in advance, to allow it to freeze properly. You’ll need a 1.5-litre bombe mould, and an ice cream maker.
SERVES 12
For the Persian Bastani ice cream
450ml cream
450ml milk
2 pinches of saffron
200g fragrant honey
8 egg yolks
4 tablespoons rosewater
90g pistachio nuts, chopped
For the raspberry sorbet
500g frozen raspberries
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
125g maple syrup or mild honey
About 45ml water
First put the bombe mould into the freezer to chill.
Next, begin the preparation of the Persian Bastani ice cream. Put the cream, milk and saffron into a pan and bring up to scalding point. Remove from the heat, stir briefly, and leave for half an hour to infuse.
In the meantime, make the raspberry sorbet. Put the frozen berries, orange juice, lemon juice and maple syrup into a food processor and blitz to a fine pulp. Have a little taste: if the flavour seems a bit too intense you can lighten it by adding a little water, up to about 45ml. Churn the raspberry pulp in an ice cream maker until thick. This won’t take long because the raspberries are still very cold, about 8 minutes.
Spoon the raspberry sorbet straight from the ice cream machine into the chilled mould, coating the inside with a layer of sorbet, between 3–4cm thick. Using a spatula, spread the sorbet evenly right up to the top edge of the mould. Cover the mould with its lid and freeze while you complete the preparation of the Persian Bastani ice cream.
Whisk the honey and egg yolks together with an electric beater until they go pale and fluffy. Reheat the saffron cream to simmering point and pour it over the egg mixture, whisking gently all the time. Pour the egg and cream mixture back into a pan and set over a low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to thinly coat the back of the spoon, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool, then add the rose water and pistachios. Chill for at least an hour, then churn in an ice cream maker until thick, about 20 minutes.
Now remove the bombe mould from the freezer. If any of the sorbet has slid down inside, use a spatula to encourage it back up to the top again. Fill the central hollow with the Persian Bastani ice cream, once again straight from the ice cream maker. Replace the lid and freeze the bombe for a minimum of 12 hours.
About 15 minutes before you wish to serve the bombe, transfer the mould from the freezer to the refrigerator. When ready to serve, run the hot water tap and put the mould under it for a moment or two. Dry the outside of the mould and run a knife around the edge of it to assist releasing the sorbet. Invert the bombe onto a serving dish and serve immediately.
