Root Vegetable Cake with Cassareep Ice Cream

STEP 1: MAKE THE CASSAREEP ICE CREAM BASE (DAY ONE)

Warm the whole milk and heavy cream in a heavy saucepan until small bubbles gather at the edge; do not let it boil. Whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar and salt until pale and slightly thickened, about a minute. Pour the hot dairy into the yolks in a thin stream, whisking without stopping, then return everything to the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula and scraping the corners, until the custard coats the back of the spatula and holds a clean line when you draw a finger through it — 170–175°F / 77–79°C, six to ten minutes. Do not let it approach a simmer. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.

STEP 2: BUILD THE CASSAREEP BY TASTE, THEN CHILL

Whisk 3 tablespoons of cassareep and the dark rum into the strained base. Chill a spoonful in the freezer for two minutes and taste it cold: cold flattens sweetness and mutes aroma, so at room temperature the base should read slightly too sweet and slightly too strong to be right once frozen. Add cassareep a teaspoon at a time until the bitterness comes through clearly against the dairy with no prickle on the tongue; if you feel a tingle, stop and add nothing more. Add no spice to this base — the cassareep already carries clove, cinnamon and cayenne. Cover and refrigerate overnight; a fully cold base churns finer and freezes smoother.

STEP 3: CHAR THE PLANTAINS (DAY ONE)

Char the plantains whole and unpeeled directly over a gas flame, or under a broiler on the top rack, turning until the skins are blackened all over and the fruit has collapsed and softened — twelve to eighteen minutes. The blackening is the point; it is where the smoke comes from. Let them cool enough to handle, then split them and scoop out the flesh. Discard the skins.

STEP 4: FINISH THE PLANTAIN CREAM

Warm the heavy cream, coconut milk, light brown sugar and salt together until the sugar dissolves. Blend the plantain flesh with the warm cream mixture until completely smooth, then pass it through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard — plantain holds fiber that will otherwise show on the palate. Stir in the lime juice off the heat. Cover the surface directly with film and refrigerate overnight; it thickens considerably as it chills.

STEP 5: BAKE THE ROOT VEGETABLE CAKE (DAY TWO)

Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides. Toast the desiccated coconut in a dry pan over medium heat, shaking constantly, until it turns pale gold and smells nutty — three to four minutes — then tip it straight out of the pan, as it burns in seconds. Grate the parsnip, sunchoke and sweet potato on the large holes of a box grater, doing the sunchoke last and working quickly because it browns fast; do not squeeze out the moisture, the cake needs it. Whisk the flour, toasted coconut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, garam masala and ground ginger together in a large bowl. In a second bowl, whisk both sugars with the eggs until thickened and lightened, then stream in the neutral oil, followed by the coconut milk and vanilla extract. Fold the wet into the dry until only a few streaks remain, then fold in all the grated roots; the batter will be thick and heavy, so stop as soon as it comes together. Spread it into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer in the center comes out with moist crumbs and no wet batter. Cool completely in the pan before lifting out.

STEP 6: SET THE COCONUT VEIL

Whisk the agar-agar into the cold coconut milk with the granulated sugar and salt. Bring it to a full rolling boil, whisking, and hold it there for one full minute — agar will not set unless it boils properly. Pour immediately onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and tilt it to spread the mixture as thin as you can, around 1/16 inch (2 mm). It sets within minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate, then cut into rounds or irregular sheets a little larger than your cake portions.

STEP 7: CHURN THE ICE CREAM

Churn the chilled base in an ice cream maker according to its instructions, until it holds the texture of thick soft-serve. Transfer to a chilled container, press film to the surface and freeze at least four hours, until scoopable. Without a machine, freeze the base in a shallow metal pan and whisk it hard every 30 minutes for the first three hours to break up crystals; the extra sugar and the rum make this base more forgiving than most.

STEP 8: PLATE

Whip the chilled plantain cream briefly by hand until it holds a soft ribbon — it should pool, not stand. Spoon it onto each plate first and spread it into a shallow bed. Cut the cake into eight portions and set one on the cream. Drape a round of coconut veil over the cake so that it falls loosely rather than sitting flat. Quenelle or scoop the cassareep ice cream beside the cake, on the cream, and serve at once.