Tom Kitchin: ‘By adding sugar or honey, the whisky becomes sweet and infuses the pudding with beautiful flavours’

AFTER a few weeks of recovering from Christmas and Hogmanay, drinking very little, eating plenty of healthy foods and having a few quiet weekends in, Burns Night always comes at just the right time.

It’s a great opportunity to celebrate the best Scotland has to offer – food, drink and, of course, creativity.

If you’re not going to an organised event, why not throw your own supper to celebrate our national bard? Haggis, neeps and tatties are easy to prepare. Then all you need is a book of Burns poems to get everyone in the spirit.

So often on Burns Night the focus is around the mighty haggis, but this week we’re going to look at puddings, each one using our national drink – whisky.

You might not know it, but The Kitchin is set in an old bonded whisky warehouse in Leith, which for me adds to the significance of using whisky in my cooking.

At one time, there were almost 100 such warehouses in Leith, maturing around 90 per cent of Scotch whisky – including Lagavulin, Talisker and Laphroaig. Before we opened I didn’t know a lot about whisky, but when we were setting up I found the history of the area utterly fascinating, and today I’m passionate about bringing the tipple into my menu as well as matching it with food.

Most people are familiar with whisky being used in savoury sauces, but I’ve recently started using it in my puddings too. By adding sugar or honey, in the same way you would with a traditional hot toddy, the whisky becomes sweet and infuses the puddings with beautiful flavours. It really doesn’t matter what type of whisky you use in your desserts, although you should steer clear of any peaty or harsh varieties to avoid them overpowering the rest of the dish.

The first dish is a chocolate or coffee financier with a sabayon sauce. Very much like a hollandaise or béarnaise sauce, sabayon is something people are really scared of trying, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a great addition to your repertoire.

To make the sabayon, place the egg yolks into a pan with the sugar and whisky and place on a very low heat. If you would prefer to play it safe, bring a pan of water to the boil and place a glass bowl containing the ingredients over the simmering water instead. The heat needs to be low, otherwise you will very quickly end up with scrambled eggs. Always whisk in a figure of eight motion and make sure you get plenty of air into it. You’ll know the sabayon is cooked when it leaves a trail at the bottom of the pan. Once you take it off the heat, you can finish the sauce off with an electric beater and then serve the financier on top.

At the restaurant, we do our apple millefeuille with a rum caramel sauce, so I thought for Burns Night it would be nice to use whisky instead of rum. Although I use apple, you can use any sweet fruit you like: pear, banana or even pineapple.

Millefuille always looks fantastic, and once you’ve learnt the basics you’ll use it over and over with different variations each time. To save work, you can use a ready-made good-quality all-butter puff pastry. Add a heavy dusty of icing sugar and pop it in the oven. The tip here is to put another baking tray on top so that the pastry rises evenly and comes out nice and flat.

So this year, take it for granted that the haggis will be spicy, the neeps sweet and potatoes buttery, and put that a little bit of extra effort into your puddings. Whisky lovers will adore them and I’d be amazed if non-whisky drinkers weren’t converted too.

Chocolate financier with whisky sabayon

For the financier

150g sugar

70g almond powder

50g flour

20g cocoa powder

125g butter

10g honey

10ml whisky

125g egg white

For the sabayon

3 egg yolks

50g sugar

1 dram of whisky, to taste

To make the financier

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

In a small pan, melt the butter and set aside. Add the honey and whisky to the butter. Mix the egg white into the dry ingredients and then slowly add the butter.

Place into the fridge and leave to rest for an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3.

Once the financier is rested, place the mix in the moulds and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

To make the sabayon

Place the egg yolks in a pan with the sugar and whisky and whisk until frothy.

Place on a low heat, whisking all the time until thick and creamy.

Serve the sabayon at the bottom of the bowl and add the financier on top.

Serve the dish with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Whisky apple millefeuille

1 sheet of rolled puff pastry

icing sugar

4 apples

100g sugar

100ml whisky

25g butter

100ml cream

Roll the pastry out to about 1cm thick, cut into circles and then prick with a fork. Place these on a lined baking tray and dust with icing sugar. Place another tray on the top to keep the pastry flat and bake according to the packet instructions, for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside.

Peel and core the apples, then cut into eight pieces and set aside.

To make the whisky caramel

Place the sugar in a small pan and cover with just a little water. Heat the pan to dissolve the sugar. As the sugar begins to colour, slowly whisk in the cream and whisky until smooth.

Heat a frying pan and sauté the apples in the butter for two to three minutes. Then add the caramel on top and a little more whisky if needed.

Serve with the puff pastry and freshly whipped cream.

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