Rasps have been in full flood recently, so we decided to use a few up by making a few pavlovas for a bbq this weekend just gone.
Now, they're fine and lovely things in their own right, but this time I decided to finish it off with a raspberry coulis, and this took it to another level. Not having made a coulis before I was amazed at how easy and quick it was....
1) make a stock syrup - this is a base ingredient for dessert sauces just as veg/chicken/beef stock is for other sauces.
250g granulated sugar + 250ml cold water in heavy bottomed pan. Bring to boil, add three or four strips of unwaxed lemon rinds.
Boil for 5 mins max, then remove from heat and allow to cool.
2) 500g ripe raspberries in blender, wizz until liquid.
3) add a good slug of a liqueour (sp??) - I used a Creme de Framboise, seemed appropriate.
4) add 8 tablespoons of the stock syrup
5) blend again
6) now pass the entire lot through a fine sieve using back of a ladle or spoon
That's it! 10 mins max. Use a squirty plastic bottle to drizzle artisticly over the pavlova, or alternatively looks really neat and professional if you serve it on a "flooded" plate - poor the coulis round the dessert and then tap the side of the plate until it has just reached the rim all around.
Now, where did I put those blackcurrants....
(many thanks to the likes of Delia, Gordon Ramsey and Michel Roux for what turned out to be a combination of recipies and techniques)
