CHEESE SHAPES WITH WINTER SWEETS

Juan Pablo Felipe
2003

INGREDIENTS 

Quince jam 
1 kg quinces
1 kg sugar
Cabrales cheese foam 
1 litre milk 
0.5 kg Cabrales cheese 
7 gelatine sheets
Spice bread 
50 gr brown sugar 
50 gr muscovado sugar
100 gr honey 
75 gr butter 
90 gr milk 
5 gr star anise 
5 gr coriander
3 gr clove 
3 gr ginger 
5 gr cinnamon 
1 gr strands saffron 
2 gr cardamom 
4 gr nutmeg
Zest of citrus fruit
125 gr all-purpose flour 
125 gr barley flour 
8 gr baking powder
Other ingredients:
Torta del Casar cheese 
Manchego cheese 
Idiazábal cheese 
Parmesan cheese 
Pedro Ximenez cream sherry 
Pine nuts
Dauro extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION

Quince jam
Cook the quinces and sugar together. Cool and shape into rolls just before serving. Cabrales cheese foam: Bring to the boil 1 litre of milk with salt and white pepper. Remove from the heat and melt in it the Cabrales cheese and the gelatine sheets. Cool, blend in the Thermomix then transfer to a siphon. Serve on 3 x 3 cm squares of brown toast, 0.5 cm thick. Spice bread: Boil together the two types of sugar and the honey. Beat with the butter, milk, saffron and zest of citrus fruit. Sift together the spices, flours and baking powder and fold in. Transfer to a buttered and floured cake pan and bake at 170ºC for 45 to 50 minutes.

Torta del Casar
Melt and form into a roll.

Manchego crisp
Cut very thin slices in the slicing-machine. Place between two silpats. Bake at 160ºC for 10 minutes.

Cheese shapes
Make shapes as follows: Torta del Casar-roll, Quince-roll, Parmesan-flake, Idiazabal-dice, griddled, Manchego- wedge, Charcoal-flavoured goat's cheese-caramelised triangle, Manchego crisp.

TO SERVE

On a large square plate, place the shapes from right to left as follows. Centre: Goat's, Manchego, Idiazabal, Parmesan, Quince jam, Torta and on top of the last two, a Manchego crisp. Trickle a little Pedro Ximenez sherry over the cheeses. Top: in parallel rows, five small cubes of spice bread. Bottom: left corner, brown toast with the Cabrales cheese foam on top, 3 roasted pine nuts and a line of extra virgin olive oil.