Toasted barley and beer ice-cream

In the creation of this dish I decided to use two different beers. This allows me to contrast the taste of the brittle with Birra Moretti Baffo d’Oro. The happy combination of barley, moreover, finds a balance in the plum compote paired with the Birra Moretti La Rossa. The delicately bitter taste of this beer is in contrast and thus brings out the sweetness of the fruit. In the glass, on the other hand, you will have a Birra Moretti Grand Cru with its taste spectrum in perfect harmony with the dessert. The re-fermentation, typical of this beer, and its aromatic intensity, enhance my barley ice-cream.

Toasted barley and beer ice-cream, with chocolate brittle and plum and liquorice compote 

Recipe for 4 people

INGREDIENTS
for the barley
300 g of toasted pearly barley 

75 cl of Birra Moretti Baffo d’Oro

50 cl of water


for the ice-cream
350 g of cooked barley
180 g of sugar
400 g of milk
100 g of cream 35% mg

for the chocolate brittle
90 g of hazelnuts and almonds 1/1
paste
35 g of dark chocolate (65%)

45 g of finely chopped almond and hazelnut brittle 

40 g of puffed toasted barley

for the plum and liquorice compote
250 g of Birra Moretti La Rossa
200 g of plums

50 g of sugar
1 g of pure liquorice
20 cubes of raw plums to keep aside

METHOD
for the barley
Cook the barley with the water and beer over a small flame for around 50 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Put 100 g of barley in the drier and dehydrate completely.

for the ice-cream
Put the barley, the sugar and the milk in a blender. Blend at the highest speed for 2 minutes. Sift the mixture and add the cream. Pasteurise at 82°C and then cool down to +3°C in a chiller. Leave in the fridge for 12 hours and then pass in a batch freezer to obtain the barley ice-cream.

for the chocolate brittle
Fry the previously de-hydrated barley in boiling oil (at around 210°C) for a few seconds. Drain it and place it on some kitchen paper. 

Melt the chocolate, temper it and add the remaining ingredients. Spread the mixture on a sheet of baking paper and leave to cool in the fridge.

for the plum and liquorice compote
Caramelise the sugar in a saucepan and add: the beer, the plums and the liquorice. Simmer the plums without ever boiling them (80°C), for about 20 minutes. Drain the plums and continue to reduce the syrup until it is rather thick. Once this is done, remove from the flame, put the plums back inside and leave to a side.

for serving
Dip the plum cubes in the compote syrup; using a pair of tweezers, put five cubes in a row, on the plate. Place 5 slices of plums in the middle, put a rectangle of brittle on top, and an ice-cream quenelle. Serve immediately.