This decadent parfait takes a couple of days to prepare, but it will be well worth it when you whip it out in front of your friends.

Serves: 4 | Prep time: 2 days | Cook time: 50 minutes | Dish deets: Gluten free, vegetarian, dairy-free option

Ingredients

Base

• 1 block milk chocolate, melted (or dairy-free chocolate)
• 900g coconut cream
• 240g water
• 420g sugar
• 330g egg whites
• 30g Malibu

Coconut sponge

• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 65g coconut milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200g gluten free flour
• 140g sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• Additional coconut milk
• Desiccated coconut

Coconut milk crumb

• 110g coconut milk powder
• 62g gluten free flour
• 30g sugar
• 10g cornflour
• 85g coconut oil

Rum caramel pineapple

• 2 pineapples
• 400g caster sugar
• 80ml dark rum
• Passionfruit syrup, to garnish

making it happen

Base

1. Line the inside of some half-sphere moulds (or bowls – about the size of half a coconut shell) with chocolate and chill. 2. Chill coconut cream overnight in the fridge. 3. The next day, whip the coconut cream. 4. Boil the water and sugar to 118 °C. 5. Lightly whip the egg whites. 6. Take the hot sugar syrup off the heat, then slowly add to egg whites while whisking slowly. 7. Once the eggs are incorporated in the syrup, whisk the mixture on high speed until it becomes a stiff foam, in the style of Italian meringue. 8. Fold the meringue, Malibu and coconut cream together until just combined, then pipe into moulds. 9. Level moulds off and freeze overnight. 10. Once frozen, remove from moulds and using a pastry brush, brush the outside of the frozen mixture with melted milk chocolate to get a ‘coconut’ texture, then keep in freezer until required.

Coconut sponge

1. Separate egg yolks from whites. 2. Whisk the egg whites into a stiff foam. 3. Whisk in the yolks one by one. 4. Mix the vanilla essence into the coconut milk. 5. In a bowl, mix the baking powder, flour, sugar and salt. 6. Fold the milk mixture and dry ingredients alternately into the egg foam until just combined. 7. Bake at 180 °C for 20 minutes or until firm and spongy. 8. Once cooled, portion into small cubes. 9. Lightly dip the sponge in coconut milk and toss through desiccated coconut.

Coconut milk crumb

1. Mix all ingredients together and spread on a baking tray. 2. Bake at 150 °C for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Rum caramel pineapple

1. Cut pineapples into very small cubes. 2. In a pot, heat the caster sugar on medium heat until it becomes a dark amber-coloured dry caramel. 3. Slowly pour in the rum. 4. Add in the pineapple and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. 5. Take off heat and cool.

Serve!

Place a spoonful of the coconut milk crumb in the middle of the plate, then arrange three cubes of sponge around it. Place the frozen coconut base on the crumb, parfait side up. Scoop a small hole out of the middle and fill it with the rum pineapple. Finish off with a drizzle of passionfruit syrup around the plate.

Chef Chanaka Jayabahu

“My focus is to create simple and elegant dishes using locally sourced fresh produce. I joined the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management after high school in Colombo to pursue a career as a chef, then moved to New Zealand in 2012. I continued to study and gain experience in hospitality and I’m very proud to have held positions managing kitchens at the iconic Galle Face Hotel and Palagama Beach Resort in Sri Lanka, La Brezza in Cyprus, and more recently at Terrace Downs in Canterbury, as well as one of New Zealand’s best ski resorts in Methven.”

Three key ingredients to a tasty dish? Fresh produce, experience and love.

What is your favourite guilty pleasure? Scrolling through Instagram.

What is an interesting trend you’re seeing in food? People today are more into plant-based food and very conscious about healthy eating. Dietary requirements are increasing rapidly in the current market and these changes are taking the culinary industry to a new level.

Read the rest of our chat with Chef Chanaka here.

50bistro.co.nz