Ginseng and Christmas Fruit Mince Crème Brulee Fritters
We know Christmas is around the corner…and we’ve searched high and low for one good dessert for this special occasion. Finally…we found it! A Christmas dessert recipe that is so-Christmas yet with the local touch. So here it is, presenting the Ginseng and Christmas Fruit Mince Crème Brulee Fritters, a Christmas dessert recipe by The Westin Kuala Lumpur.
This special Christmas recipe is complete with suggestion on how to enjoy the dish! The preparation is divided into 5 parts – making of batter flour mixture, batter, ginseng crème brulee custard, Christmas fruit mince and bay leaf sabayon.
For best result, it is recommended Hong Kong flour to be used for batter flour mixture in this Christmas dessert. It is a type of high quality flour often used in steam bun and noodle making. Remember to sift all the flours beforehand. Dark rum is being used in preparation of Christmas fruit mince. To those who prefer not to have alcohol, this recipe is still fine without dark rum. Ingredients used in this Christmas food recipe are indeed a long list…but you would want a complete recipe, right? Worry not as these ingredients can be found in supermarkets. Go for Jusco or big hypermarkets where more varieties of ingredients are stocked.
As long as you can get the ingredients correct, you’ll get this Christmas dessert alright! Make sure you have the required equipment such as oven and whisk (manual or machine). Buy a small kitchen weighing scale if you do not already have one! Every gram counts in this recipe.
Now let’s look at this Christmas food recipe served in a 5-star hotel!
Ginseng and Christmas Fruit Mince Crème Brulee Fritters Recipe (Serves 15 pax)
A. Batter Flour Mixture
Ingredients:
- 2300gm of Hong Kong flour
- 150gm of corn flour
- 150gm of wheat starch
- 150gm of rice flour
- 300gm of baking powder
- 190gm of custard powder
Preparation: Combine all flour and powder together. Mix evenly.
B. Batter
Ingredients:
- 75gm of batter flour mixture
- 75ml of water
- 15ml of vegetable oil
Preparation: Combine all ingredients together and whisk into a smooth batter. Chill before use for better result!
C. Ginseng Crème Brulee Custard
Ingredients:
- 1000ml of whipping cream
- 37gm of ginseng root (soaked and strained before use)
- 95gm of sugar
- 10 nos. of egg yolk
Preparation:
- Put ginseng root and whipping cream together in a baking tray. Steam for 30 minutes to infuse the flavour. Remove from steamer, strain and keep chilled.
- Combine sugar and egg yolk together and whisk until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy and creamed.
- Whisk the ginseng mixture into the egg yolk mixture to fully incorporate into a custard mixture.
- Pour into a baking tray size of 30cm L x 16cm W x 6.5cm H.
- Place this tray into a larger baking tray filled half way to the top with boiling water bath (bain marie)
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 300 degree Celsius for 15 minutes until custard is just set.
- Remove from oven and spoon some fruit mince along the length of the custard, pushing it into the centre of the custard.
- Allow to cool and keep in chiller to form a solid texture.
- Cut custard into desired fritter size (a little fruit mince mixture should be in the centre) then store in freezer until required.
- To fry the fritters, coat fritter with flour then dip into the batter. Fry the fritters until golden brown and drain on a rack with paper towel.
D. Christmas Fruit Mince
Ingredients:
- 150gm of apple (cored, finely chopped)
- 125gm of black grapes (finely chopped)
- 125gm of currants (finely chopped)
- 150gm of sultanas (finely chopped)
- 40gm of candied orange (finely chopped)
- 30gm of dried cranberries (finely chopped)
- 60gm of roasted almond (grounded)
- Zest and juice of 2 oranges
- 250gm of palm sugar
- 3gm of five-spice powder
- 2gm of roasted cardamom (grounded)
- 2gm of roasted cinnamon (grounded)
- Optional: 100gm of dark rum
Preparation: Mix all ingredients together, stir well and cook briefly until the ingredients are cooked and nicely assimilated and the sugars are lightly caramelised. To check that you get the correct “jam-like” consistency and viscosity, place a small amount on a plate and chill.
E. Bay Leaf Sabayon
Ingredients:
- 400gm of sugar
- 200ml of water
- 500gm of egg yolk
- 1 pc of fresh bay leaf (finely sliced)
Preparation:
- In a mixer machine fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk egg yolk until it reaches soft peak, lightly creamed and fluffy.
- Bring water and sugar to boil, add bay leaf to infuse, until the temperature reaches 121 degree Celsius.
- Remove bay leaf from the sugar syrup. Slowly pour the sugar syrup in a thin constant stream into the egg yolk mixture whilst the machine is on high whisking – continue the whisking until the mixture is cold and has formed a thick sabayon.
F. Composition and Presentation
Best to enjoy with fritters with sabayon and ice-cream!
Start practising now to be prepared for Christmas. Too much of a hassle? Em…Can’t find some of the ingredients? Do not have the required equipment for this Christmas dessert? You can still enjoy Ginseng and Christmas Fruit Mince Crème Brulee Fritters at The Westin Kuala Lumpur 
Amazing as always