Smoked Bacon and Egg Ice Cream, Pain Perdu, and Tea Jelly

I have long been an advocate of having dessert for breakfast, but at England’s The Fat Duck, breakfast is the new dessert.  Amidst the restaurant’s menu of Snail Porridge and Sardine on Toast Sorbet, a finale of Smoked Bacon and Egg Ice Cream seems to fit right in.  After reading rave reviews about this dish, I simply had to try it myself.  But since my chances of dining at The Fat Duck in the foreseeable future are next to zero, I spent last weekend trying to recreate it at home.

As you may have guessed, this dessert is Chef Heston Blumenthal’s whimsical take on a traditional English breakfast.  In addition to the Smoked Bacon and Egg Ice Cream, the dish also includes a sweet and slightly sour Tomato and Red Pepper Jam, caramelized French Toast (or Pain Perdu), a rich and creamy Salted Butter Caramel, and a refreshing glass of Tea Jelly.  The complete recipes for the dessert can be found here and here.

To infuse the bacon flavour into the ice cream, I soaked lightly roasted bacon in milk overnight, and to create the egg flavour, I heated the ice cream base until it began to curdle (about 185F).  I should also mention that this ice cream uses twice as many yolks than normal for extra egginess - 24 yolks per litre!  My first impressions were mixed - the salty and smoky flavours went against my preconceptions of what ice cream should taste like, but it was actually quite good as long as I didn’t think of it as ice cream.  To add a Canadian touch to the dish, I garnished the ice cream with a few granules of maple sugar.

The Tomato and Red Pepper Jam, and the Salted Butter Caramel help temper the flavours of the dessert.  They’re respectively sweeter and saltier than the ice cream, so in comparison, the ice cream tastes mild.  Both components also add texture to the dish and taste great by themselves.

The sizzling French Toast contrasts the ice cream wonderfully.  I used the brioche recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook, but any thick and fluffy bread should work just as well.  After soaking pieces of brioche in a milk and egg mixture, I gave them a quick sear, topped them with sugar, and caramelized their surfaces using a blowtorch.  The result is a crackly crème brulée-like crust, and a moist and fluffy interior.

The final component of the dish is a light and refreshing glass of tea jelly which serves as a palate cleanser for this rich and sugary dish.  Blumenthal recommends using a mixture of teas, but I chose to simply use Mariage Frères Thé Sur Le Nil for its floral and citrus flavours.

I began this dish with many doubts, but I can say now say that this is certainly one of the best and most unique desserts I’ve had.  The different components just seem to balance each other out so well.  I suppose it’s no coincidence that The Fat Duck currently holds the title of Best Restaurant in the World!

Comments

[Gustad Mody]

there seems to be a skid mark on your plate. hehe, just kidding. looks great! great site.

[Tania]

I don't know about the ice cream, but the pain perdu and salted butter caramel (mmm!)sound delicious. I love your comment about enjoying the ice cream as long as you didn't think of it as ice cream!

[GastroChick]

This dish is certainly one of Hestons most talked about. Yours is plated beautifully did you follow Hestons model?

[pocah]

Hi there, glad to see another one of ur wonderful posts! (am an "old" visitor who commented a couple of times in the past :o))
yes,I was reading about the Fat Duck being the Best Restaurant in the world & it's well-deserved! Thanks for trying out their recipes & for the feedback, makes me want to try them too! Your pictures are awesome as always.

[Christiane]

The tea jelly sounds absolutely fantastic. I will definitely have to try that one.

[Clement]

Gustad Mody - Thanks. I'm still trying to perfect the skid mark, along with the sauce tadpole :)

Tania - Maybe I would like it more if I called it Frozen Bacon and Egg Bisque! Yes, the salted butter caramel and caramelized pain perdu were both very delicious.

GastroChick - Yes, I tried to follow his presentation, but wasn't able to shape the caramel into a quenelle like he does at The Fat Duck; so I ended up just doing a brush stroke instead. It also looks like he tops his caramel with a morel mushroom - another unexpected combination!

pocah (pocahontas?) - Thanks for still visiting. I love trying out these weird sounding dishes - I never know what to expect!

Christiane - Give it a try, it's very simple to make, and quite delicious!

[Anita]

Clement,
I've never mentioned how beautiful your photos are - every one is so clear and stunning! The ice cream sounds fascinating - wish I could try it!

[J]

hi clement, i'm speechless with awe...i have his family food title, which does an excellent job of making his unconventional but highly effective methods seem more approachable...thanks so much for the recipe leads in the guardian!

[Chubby Hubby]

Wow! That's pretty amazing. Well done.

[Kathryn]

Heh, a friend recently made bacon ice cream, and it was delicious!

[shaz]

hey its very brave of you to attempt a dish from fat duck! kudos to you.

[tejal]

wow, that looks really beautiful. Heston Blumenthal has some wonderfully english and inspiring dishes! My boyfriend is starting a stage at the fat duck in august and I'm really hoping to be able to eat a meal there, we'll see...

[rob]

Wow! I'd read quite a bit about Fat Duck's bacon and egg ice cream, so I'm fascinated to read about your preparation.

There's a reason for every ingredient in a Blumenthal recipe. Do you happen to know why so many molecular gastronomy dishes, including this one, use milk powder?

Also, out of curiosity, whereabouts in Toronto do you buy your bacon?

[Lady Amalthea]

What an adventure! That ice cream does sound interesting--not sure I'm ready for something so bizarre, quite yet, though. I've had lobster and butter ice cream up in Maine and, as I remember, it was not delicious. Good for you for experimenting, though!

[Mark]

That sounds like a great breakfast to me. Errr, I mean... dessert. I've always been a fan of those not-the-norm types of ice cream. I was hooked ever since I tried Basil ice cream some time ago... and I've never looked back! :-)

[Clement]

Anita - Thanks! You should definitely give the ice cream a try. Have a great time in Hong Kong and Singapore!

J - I haven't seen his Family Food book, but will definitely try to check it out. I've read that he's coming out with a Fat Duck cookbook next year - can't wait!

Chubby Hubby - Thanks... I appreciate it!

Kathryn - I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes it! Hopefully the rest of the world will catch on soon :)

shaz - Thanks! It's always fun trying unusual recipes.

tejal - That's awesome! Congratulations and best wishes to your boyfriend. Looking forward to reading about your meal there!

rob - I'm not certain about why milk powder is used, but I think its function may be to thicken the mixture, since the recipe doesn't use heavy cream. My understanding is that Blumenthal doesn't like using cream in his ice creams since it results in a more drawn out flavour, rather than an immediate flavour burst. The problem with my theory is that the glucose and egg yolks by themselves should provide more enough thickening power (especially since he uses so many yolks).

Lady Amalthea - Wow, lobster and butter ice cream sounds pretty unique. It reminds me of Heston Blumenthal's experiment where he served 'crab ice cream,' and everyone recoiled, but when he called it 'frozen crab bisque,' people didn't think it was strange at all! Of course, you're right - it also has to actually taste good!

Mark - I'd definitely like to give basil ice cream a try sometime. I've heard great things about it!

[lainey]

thanks so much for posting recipe links too!

I'm always salivating when visiting your site :)

on The Cookbook since you've recommended it, and it's great!! I really love all of the photos.

[soycap]

Hi Clement!

It looks like I've been away for too long that I missed this amazing entry of yours! It is simply cool that you made bacon and egg ice-cream!

[tim mcentee]

how to make the perfect poached egg on toast

[bcinfrance]

For some reason, this type of food experimentation is called "fooding" in France. It's not a very attractive name and personally, I'm not too keen on the concept palate-wise, but it is fun to read about.

[Clement]

lainey - Great to hear that you're enjoying the Cook's Book. Best wishes in all your cooking adventures!

soycap - It's so great to see you're back! Hope things are going well in Singapore.

tim - hello.

bcinfrance - I agree, sometimes the name just sounds too strange and it's difficult to taste it without thinking that ice cream should be sweet. Maybe if I gave it a different name, it would taste better?

[Kat]

I am not sure about the ice cream that sounds a little, well, a lot different but it was interesting to read about the idea of breakfast for desert.

[richard]

I would just like to add that the egg and bacon ice cream recipe in the guardian is as good as the fat duck which i was fortunate enough to eat in. the texture the bursting flavour its all there. my next ice cream adventure will be roast beef and yorkshire pudding with parsnip and roast potato jelly.

[Anne]

Wow! Talk about innovative. I don't think I could have ever thought to make a smoked bacon and ice cream duo. That's probably why I'm not a *** gourmet chef! Thanks for sharing!

[Kandice]

One of the researchers from the Fat Duck visited my school, CIA at Greystone, last spring. I had the chance to taste the smoked bacon and egg ice cream. I found the idea very intriguing, however the ice cream was rather disgusting.