Hunt and prepare the perfect truffle, cooking worlds most expensive ingredients | ABC Australia

Truffles are a special fungus delicacy, which can be harvested between June and August from a handful of boutique farms in the Canberra region. Join Bluefrog Truffles owner and Canberra Truffle Festival founder Wayne Haslam on a tour of his truffle treasure trove to see how the luxury food is unearthed. Then let cooking teacher Alaine Chanter guide you through unleashing the basics of truffle infusion and preparation. Subscribe ✅ and tap the notification bell 🔔 to be delivered Australian stories every day

Find the full recipes for truffle butter and truffle ice cream here:

Truffle butter

250 g good quality salted butter

½ teaspoon salt flakes

25 g truffle

Soften the butter enough so that you can mix it with a wooden spoon. Put the butter and extra salt in a bowl. Use a micro-plane to grate half the truffle into the butter. Shave the remaining truffle finely then add to the butter. Mix the truffle through the butter.

Place a sheet of plastic wrap on the bench and place the truffle butter on top. Cover the butter with the wrap and use your hands to mould the butter into a log. Wrap the log entirely and twist the ends to enclose. Place the log into the fridge for storage. You can cut the log into smaller rounds and store these wrapped individually in the fridge or freezer for later use.

Fridge stored truffle butter lasts for 2-3 weeks. Freezer stored truffle butter lasts for four or more months.

You can also add extra flavourings to your truffle butter such as ground pepper, green or pink peppercorns (drained from the brine), or fresh herbs such as parsley, chives or finely minced sage.

Truffle ice-cream (makes approximately 1 litre)

1 cup milk

1 cup caster sugar

8 truffled egg yolks (eggs stored for a few days in a sealed jar with fresh truffle)

A small squirt of vanilla paste

2 cups pouring cream

10 g fresh truffle

Put the milk in a medium sized saucepan and grate in the truffle using a micro-plane. Heat the milk till it is just warm to touch (around 40 C) and then turn off the heat. Allow the truffle to infuse the milk for at least an hour.

When the milk is infused, separate the truffled eggs and place the yolks in a bowl. Whisk these until well combined.

Place the sugar and squirt of vanilla paste into the milk and bring to a near boil. Temper the eggs by pouring the hot milk into the egg yolks whisking continuously. Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat gently stirring continuously until the mixture thickens and is at around 70 C. It must not boil, otherwise the eggs will scramble.

You can have a bowl of cold water ready to dip the base of the saucepan into to stop further cooking once it reaches temperature. Place the custard into a bowl and mix in the pouring cream. Cover and place in the fridge for the mixture to become cold. When cold, churn in an ice-cream churner and then freeze. Depending on your churner, it may take a few hours to harden sufficiently after churning, so allow some freezing time before service.

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