Christmas spiced plums, ricotta & coffee ice

Method

1. For the coffee ice, pour the coffee into a bowl, add the honey and stir to dissolve. Soak the gelatine leaf in a bowl of ice-cold water for a couple of minutes, then remove and squeeze out the excess water. Whisk the leaf into the warm coffee mixture until dissolved.
2. Pour the mixture into a large, flat dish to a depth of no more than 3 cm, cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. Make a note of the time and move on to preparing the poached plums.
3. Warm the wine, honey, star anise and vanilla seeds in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the plums and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for 20–25 minutes, or until soft. (The ripeness of the plums will dictate how long this takes – you want them to be soft but not falling apart.) Transfer the plums and stones to a bowl using a slotted spoon and reduce the poaching liquid, over a medium heat, by half.
4. After 45 minutes, check on the coffee ice – as soon as it starts to solidify around the edges, stir it with a fork, mixing the solid ice into the liquid. Repeat this process about every half an hour until you have a light cloud of crystals.
5. When you’re ready to serve, mash the ricotta a little with the back of a fork to soften it and scrape the surface of the ice to create ‘snow’. Spoon the ricotta into bowls and top with the plums, reduced poaching liquid and coffee ice ‘snow’.