Thanksgiving Menu Special

A delicately spiced pumpkin chiffon parfait with wattleseed fig gelee and mountain pepper berry poached apples. Australian bush herbs replace the traditional ginger, cinnamon and cloves. The dessert suits thanksgiving dinners which take place on the fourth Thursday in November in North America, or earlier on the second Monday in October in Canada. General instructions follow.

Ingredients
16 mountain pepper berries
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 apple, thinly sliced
500 g butternut (to make 1 cup of puree)
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon mountain pepper berries
1-2 fresh lemon mrytle leaves, bruised
1-2 fresh aniseed myrtle leaves, bruised
2 fresh mountain pepper berry leaves, bruised
1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
2 egg whites, whisked very stiff
16 glazed wattleseed figs together with the reduced poaching liquid

Gently boil the mountain pepper berries in the water and vinegar for 5 minutes. Add the apple and poach for 5 minutes or until just cooked. Sweeten if required. Chill.

Place deseeded butternut into a microwave safe dish. Add 2 tablespoon water. Cover and microwave for 5 to 10 minutes until cooked and very soft. Scoop out the flesh and puree. Press through a sieve.

Warm the milk gently for 5 minutes with 1 teaspoon of mountain pepper berries. Then add lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle and mountain pepper berry leaves. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and steep for 5 minutes. Add the gelatine and stir to dissolve. Cool and strain the infused milk. Discard the herbs. Save the the mountain pepper berries for garnish. Sweeteen with the honey. Add the pumpkin puree and chill for 30 minutes until partly set.

Whip the chilled pumpkin mixture until light. Fold in the whisked egg whites. Assemble as shown and chill for 4 hours until set.