Ingredients:
- 2 eggs for the egg wash
- 500 gr of breadcrumbs
- 1 lt of veg oil
- Sea salt flakes to sprinkle
- Icing sugar to dust
For the custard:
- 500 ml of whole milk
- 100 gr of caster sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 vanilla pod (seeds) or 4 drops of extract
- ½ lemon, the zest
- 40 gr of plain flour
- 40 gr of corn flour
- 100 gr of candied peel, chopped
Method
To make sure the custard is well set before you slice it into cubes I suggest starting the preparation a day ahead.
Simmer the milk with the vanilla seeds and the remaining pod as well as the zest of the lemon. This step will infuse the milk with lots of flavour.
Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk the yolks with the sugar and incorporate gradually the sifted flour and the sifted corn flour. Mix well until smooth. Now strain the hot milk from the vanilla pod and lemon zest and pour it (gradually in stages) into the yolk mixture and continue to mix until all is combined. Now return the custard to the stove, set the heat to the minimum and continue to whisk as it cooks. When custard reaches, the boiling point will start to coagulate, and the flour could create lumps. Trust the process, let it cook while you mix it for a couple of minutes, and all the lumps will dissolve.
Remove the custard from the stove, stir in the candied lemon peel and pour the hot custard in a deep tray lined with cling film or parchment to set. Make sure the tray is deep enough to allow the custard to have at least 2 cm in hight and don’t skip the film as it will really help to remove the set custard from the tray once set. I recommend leaving the custard in the fridge overnight or for a speedy result, once it is at room temperature, let it firm up well in the freezer.
Once firm, slice the custard carefully into cubes about 2/3 cm per side and gently dip them one by one in sequence in the breadcrumbs first than into the egg wash and then again into the breadcrumbs. With this last step make sure the custard cubes are well coated with the breadcrumbs and place them on a new tray ready to be fried.
Heat up the veg oil to 160 degrees C and fry the custard cubes in batches for about 3 to 4 minutes until golden all around. Turn them gently while in the oil and drain them well on kitchen paper. Season lightly with sea salt flakes, place them on a serving platter, dust with icing sugar and serve immediately with a cold bubbly glass of Prosecco DOC Rosé.
Recipe by Chef Danilo Cortellini
