Hen of the woods, autumn truffle custard, walnut, barley

For the truffle custard, there are two methods. One for professional kitchens, which uses a Thermomix, and one for home kitchens, which doesn't. For a professional kitchen, first place all the ingredients into a Thermomix. Blend for 10 seconds then set the speed to 3.5 and cook at 95°C for 7-10 minutes until thickened. You have reached the right consistency when the custard begins to come away from the sides of the jug. It is important not to overcook the custard or the mixture will curdle

Once cooked, transfer to a container, cover with cling film and leave to cool

Once cool, place into a piping bag and store in the fridge

For home kitchens, first whisk the egg yolk and cornflour in a bowl until pale

Blend the cream, truffle pieces and truffle oil for 10 seconds to break the truffle pieces

Boil the cream mixture and carefully pour over the egg yolks and cornflour and whisk to combine

Transfer to a heavy based pan, and over a medium heat whisk the mixture until thickened

Once cooked, transfer to a container and cover with cling film and leave to cool

Once cool, place into a piping bag and store in the fridge

For the pickled walnut reduction, empty the pickling liquid from a jar of pickled walnuts. Place into a pan over a medium heat and reduce by 90% to just a couple tablespoons

Leave to cool and store in a container at room temperature

For the tamari glaze, place a quarter of the sugar into a heavy based pan and over a high heat bring to a caramel

Once caramelised, add another quarter of the sugar and continue to caramelise

Add the remaining sugar in two more stages and bring to a dark caramel

Reduce the heat. Carefully add the tamari to the sugar in small quantities, whisking to combine the two as you go. Note - be careful to add the tamari slowly and in stages. The sugar is very hot and will splatter as you add the tamari

Once combined, leave to cool at room temperature

For the puffed barley, add the vegetable oil to a saucepan. Bring the oil to a smoking point, then drop the barley into the pan and stir. The grains will puff almost instantly, so keep a close eye on them to make sure the grain doesn’t burn

Season the puffed barley with fine sea salt, pour out onto paper towels and leave to cool

For the mushrooms, first preheat the oven to 165°C/gas mark 3

Break the mushroom into several large pieces (one or two pieces for each person)

Dip each piece of mushroom into the tamari glaze coating the entire mushroom and place onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper

Bake for 10 minutes, then turn and coat the mushroom in the glaze from the tray again and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool

To serve, pipe the truffle custard onto the centre of a heatproof dish

Sprinkle demerara sugar to cover the surface of the custard and pour away any excess

Using a kitchen blowtorch, caramelise the sugar to a golden brown colour. The sugar will set hard like the surface of a creme brulee

Reheat the mushrooms if needed, warming them in the oven for 5 minutes, and place these on top of the custard mounds

Sprinkle over a few grains of puffed barley and finish with a teaspoonful of pickled walnut reduction drizzled over the top. If the consistency of the reduction is too thick, it can be reheated and let down with a little water

Using a fine grater or microplane, grate a few walnuts over the top of the mushrooms and serve