Summer mousse pudding

Instructions

1. For the pistachios: Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan-forced). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Place 25ml of water and the sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once the sugar has completely melted, pour the syrup over the pistachios and mix to coat.
3. Strain to remove the excess syrup, then transfer the pistachios onto the lined baking tray and sieve the icing sugar over the top.
4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes, until golden-brown in colour, mixing the nuts occasionally to ensure even baking. Allow to cool at room temperature.
5. For the summer mousse pudding: Place the finely chopped candied orange and glace cherries and sugar-coated pistachios into a bowl. Mix to combine and set aside until required.
6. Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water until soft and pliable.
7. Semi-whip the cream together with the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean until it has some body but still collapses. Set aside in the refrigerator until required.
8. Whisk the egg yolks on high speed.
9. Meanwhile, place the water and sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once the syrup reaches 123°C, pour it over the egg yolks while continuing to whisk, careful that the syrup doesn’t hit the whisk. Continue to whisk until the mixture has cooled slightly.
10. Squeeze to remove any excess water from the pre-soaked gelatine. Place the gelatine in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until melted, careful not to let it reach more than 80°C.
11. Melt the white chocolate together with the pistachio paste until you have half solids and half liquid, then vigorously stir until completely melted.
12. Working quickly, fold a quarter of the semi-whipped cream through the melted chocolate and pistachio paste, then add the egg mixture and fold through.
13. Add a small amount of this mixture to the melted gelatine and mix together before folding it back through the chocolate mixture. Fold through the remaining semi-whipped cream.
14. Lastly, add the glace fruit and sugar-coated pistachio mixture and the dark chocolate and gently fold through until evenly distributed.
15. Grease a 2-litre pudding mould with vegetable oil spray and dust with icing sugar. Pour the pudding mixture into the prepared mould and place into the freezer for a minimum of 8 hours, preferably overnight.
16. To finish, dip the outside of the mould into a bowl of warm water then turn the pudding out onto a serving plate.
17. Prior to serving, garnish the top with sugar-coated pistachios, candied orange, glace cherries and a dusting of icing sugar.