White Chocolate Rice Pudding Parfait with Poached Winter Fruits

Method

1. Microwave rice and add the rice to a heavy-bottomed pan with the milk, vanilla, zest and sugar. Grate in a little fresh nutmeg and add a pinch of cinnamon (adding more or less to taste) and stir to combine. Place over a gentle heat and allow to simmer gently until the rice is tender

2. Taking the pan off the heat, add in the white chocolate and stir until melted through the rice. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin leaves and mix into the pan so that they dissolve into the rice

3. Leave the rice to cool until it reaches 30°C, then gently fold through the whipped cream. Distribute the mixture between ten 6cm round moulds or ramekins and chill for a minimum of 4 hours

4. While the parfaits chill, make the stock syrup which will be used for poaching the fruits. Add the water and sugar to a large pan, stir together then bring to the boil. Once the sugar has fully dissolved, remove from the heat and allow to cool

5. Poaching the fruit separately will help maintain their unique flavours. Add the prunes to one pan with 250ml of the stock syrup (or to just cover the prunes) and the tea bag, then simmer until soft. Chill in the fridge until needed

6. In another pan, add the apricots, another 250ml of stock syrup and the split vanilla pod. Simmer until soft, then reserve in the fridge

7. For the figs, add them to a pan with 250ml of the stock syrup and the fresh thyme, simmering until tender before chilling until needed

8. Add the pears to a pan with any remaining stock syrup, the sweet wine, cloves and cinnamon stick. Simmer until softened, then allow to cool in the poaching liquor. Dice into 5mm cubes and chill until needed

9. To serve, carefully turn the parfaits out from the moulds on to serving plates. Dust liberally with icing sugar and use a blowtorch to caramelise this slightly. Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and serve alongside the poached fruits