In Sicily, the lockdown represented a period of creativity and resilience. The Ristorante Branciforte in Palermo created a dessert on the plate to relaunch its venue after the reopening on June 4th.
It's a dessert that is a symbol of the pandemic in Sicily, invented by chef Gaetano Billeci and pastry chef Giovanna Cascio, and has the shape of a prickly pear.
In fact, the prickly pear is a widespread element of the Sicilian landscape. It is "hard to eradicate", Gaetano told SBS Italian, and for this reason it represents the resilience with which the Sicilians are facing the pandemic.
“The symbol of a Sicily that fought during the lockdown”
All the ingredients of this dessert are typically Sicilian: from the ricotta cream (“which we Sicilians like as a child likes milk”, explains Gaetano) to pistachios and almonds and the prestigious Modica chocolate.
“A dish where Sicily is represented at 360°, in all its forms, its colours, from north to south”.
Prickly pear ice cream with pistachio macaron filled with ricotta cream and chocolate crumble
Ingredients
For the prickly pear sorbet:
- 1 kg of sifted prickly pear pulp
- 500g of sugar syrup (250g of sugar + 250g of water)
For the ricotta cream:
- 1kg of well-drained ricotta
- 350g of sugar
For the soft chocolate:
- 250g of butter
- 500g of chocolate (Modica’s or dark chocolate)
- 6 egg yolks
- 150g of sugar
- 250g of flour
For the macaron:
- 80g of almond flour
- 40g of pistachio flour
- 120g of granulated sugar
- 130g of powdered sugar
- 30g of water
- 50g of egg whites
- Green food colouring
Method
Two days before preparing the dessert, let the egg whites we need for the macarons rest in the fridge so that they lose moisture.
12 hours before, we prepare the Sicilian ricotta cream by mixing ricotta and sugar very well. Then put in the refrigerator.
Let's start preparing our dessert with the prickly pear sorbet.
Prepare 500g of sugar syrup by boiling the water and sugar. Once cooled, add the prickly pear pulp and mix well.
Put in the freezer. Extract 2-3 times and pass to the mixer during the freezing phase until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
When the 12 hours have passed, take the ricotta and sugar mixture out the refrigerator and blend. We have obtained the ricotta cream.
For the chocolate crumble, gently melt the chocolate and butter “bagnomaria” (in a bain-marie pot) or in the microwave. In the meantime, whip the egg yolks then add the sugar and then flour.
Then add the chocolate and melted butter to the mixture. Stir, place in a pan and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Let's now prepare the macarons. Prepare a batter consisting of almond flour, pistachio flour and powdered sugar, water and half of the egg whites.
In a separate mixer, whip the rest of the egg whites until stiff together with the sugar and bring to a temperature of 121°. Then prepare a meringue and add it to the previously prepared batter. Add a little green food colouring.
With the sac-à-poche and on a baking tray, create two overlapping spheres (one larger and one smaller), in order to obtain the shape of a prickly pear. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes at 180°.
Finally, let’s plate our dessert. Crumble the chocolate fluff on a plate. Place a scoop of prickly pear sorbet. Then cut the macaron, stuff it with the ricotta cream and place it upright on the plate.
If desired, you can also add pink flowers made of sugar paste.
Buon appetito!
To discover the history of this dish and how to best enjoy it, listen to the interview with the chef:
LISTEN TO
Il dessert dai sapori e colori della Sicilia
SBS Italian
18/08/202009:12
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