This week was going to be a challenge. The Square Cookbook Volume 2: Sweet by the amazing Philip Howard. The Square restaurant is sadly no longer around, but we went there for one of our anniversaries for a genuinely wonderful lunch. The Square Cookbook is in two volumes “Sweet” and “Savoury”. Like Phil, the cookbook is precise, with bags of exacting detail for some pretty involved recipes. As I read through, thinking about what we could do, I found several approachable recipes. After a couple of weeks in North America, we were after something a little lighter. We’d also had some lovely sourdough bread at our friends in upstate New York, so we’d decided to make a new starter and start making sourdough again. Phil’s book had an approach to creating a starter which we’ve done, and we made some of his sourdough, which was great, and now we’re back in the flow, experimenting with different recipes to find one that works as a regular bake for us as a family. The main recipe for the week, though, was
Blueberry Poached Pineapple with Yoghurt Ice Cream. This looks amazing and was pretty simple (admittedly, the pineapple is cooked using a sous vide gadget – though in fairness to Phil, he gives an alternate method for those that don’t have such kit). I substituted Phil’s ice cream recipe for a somewhat simpler one from the Silver Spoon – as I couldn’t get hold of inverted sugar quickly enough. This recipe was just fabulous. It looks fantastic with the dark blueberry sauce and the chunks of pineapple with an infused blueberry outer and a natural pineapple-coloured centre gleaming out of the darkness of its surroundings. This is then all crowned with a quenelle of ice cream. The ice cream is refreshingly sharp against the sweetness beneath. I have to say this is probably the best dessert I have ever produced. Thank you, Phil.