When I presented this dessert on the finale of Top Chef: Just Desserts, one of the judges said that it looked pink, frilly, and girly, but when she tasted it, it was complex, deep, and sophisticated. This sort of complexity is what I live for.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Strawberry-Lime Sorbet
- ½ recipe strained Lemongrass Poached Rhubarb, rhubarb pieces only
- 20 small organic strawberries, halved
- 40 green pistachios, shelled
- 24 Baked Berry Meringue Kisses
- ¼ recipe Lemongrass & Ginger Ice Cream
- ¼ recipe Chilled Summer Berry Soup with Lillet Rosé
Special Equipment
- 1 silicone mold with 8 round cavities, or eight 2-in (5-cm) ring molds
How to Make It
- Remove the sorbet from the freezer and set it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to make it easier to work with. Fill the cavities of the mold with sorbet completely, packing it to be sure there are no air pockets, and then use a small offset spatula to smooth the tops. Once filled, immediately transfer the mold to the freezer to set until very hard, at least 2 hours. Ideally, this should be done 1 day in advance. The more the sorbet is set and frozen, the cleaner the lines of the molded sorbet. When you are ready to unmold, gently push up on the mold from the bottom to free the sorbet. Place the molded sorbets onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, wrap with plastic wrap, and store the entire sheet in the freezer until ready to use. Do this ahead of time so that you don’t have to struggle to unmold the delicate sorbet.
- When ready to serve, set out eight shallow soup bowls, place 15 to 20 pieces of the rhubarb around the edge of each bowl, divide the strawberry halves throughout each ring of rhubarb, and then scatter the pistachios among the berries and rhubarb to create circles of fruit and nuts. Place 3 meringue kisses in the very center of the bowl. From the bottom of each sorbet round, scoop out a heaping 1 tbsp, creating a cavity so there is room for the meringue kisses to nestle underneath. Put one molded sorbet round over the meringue kisses in the center of each bowl. Place a small scoop of the ice cream directly on top of the sorbet. Finally, use a pitcher or a ladle to gently pour 2½ tbsp of the chilled soup onto the fruit and nuts. Make sure not to pour the soup on top of the ice cream or sorbet, to keep the sorbet and ice cream intact. Serve and enjoy.
