What to do with lots of mascarpone? On the weekend I made a frozen creation for friends who had excess mascarpone, using a variety of delicious things folded through the cream cheese. The predominant colour vibe was pink and green, using raspberries and strawberries, meringue and pistachio praline.
Very easy to make, and you can include whatever you fancy as the fold-through ingredients.
Ingredrients
1 quantity of pistachio praline
2 x 250g tubs mascarpone
200g condensed milk
1 tbls orange liqueur
Handful of fresh raspberries and/or strawberries
Meringue pieces (we bought green and pink meringues – any colours will do)
Method
To make pistachio praline, scatter a handful of pistachio nuts on piece of baking paper on a baking sheet.
Heat 1/2 cup of caster sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Be careful not to stir the sugar – tilt the saucepan to help melt the sugar. Cook for several minutes until the sugar turns a deep caramel tea colour and take off the heat. Quickly pour over the pistachios.
Leave to cool and harden. When completely cold, place the praline in a ziplock bag and bash into pieces with a mallet or rolling pin. Make sure you have small fragments and praline powder as well as some large shards for decoration.
Combine the mascarpone and condensed milk in a bowl using a large spoon. Add the orange liqueur. If the mixture is too stiff, you can loosen it a little with some pouring cream.
Add the fold-through ingredients, being careful not to break up the berries.
Line a rectangular plastic container with cling film. Spoon the mixture into the container. Cover with the overhanging cling film. Freeze for several hours or better still overnight.
Turn out onto serving platter, removing cling film. You will need to leave for a few minutes to soften as the terrine will be hard and difficult to cut.
Serve with the praline shards, berries and crushed meringues.
The Quirk and the Cool 