Strawberry and elderflower fraisiers

Name: Strawberry and elderflower fraisiers
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Ingredients: 100g of shortbread; 40g of butter; 2 egg yolks; 30g of sugar; 15g of cornflour; 3 tbsp of elderflower cordial; 2g of platinum grade gelatine leaves, (approx 2 leaves); 175ml of milk; 400ml of double cream; 200g of strawberries, small, halved; 145g of strawberries, halved; 20g of sugar; 1/2 gelatine leaf

by Rukmini Iyer

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Dessert
medium
4
1 hour 30 minutes

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These beautiful strawberry and elderflower fraisiers from Rukmini Iyer are as delicious as they are pretty - perfect for late summer dinner parties or even picnics (weather permitting, of course!).

First published in 2015

discover more:

Strawberry Recipes

This French pâtisserie classic is the perfect late summer dessert. Traditionally made with a vanilla mousse and soft genoise sponge base, here, it’s given an English twist with a crisp, buttery shortbread base acting as a lovely textural contrast to an elderflower mousse. They’re perfect for a make-ahead dinner party dessert, and can be carefully transported outside if you’re looking to inspire picnic-envy at the park or an outdoor event. You can go one step further and use homemade shortbread and elderflower cordial in the mousse for a really special occasion. Metal ring moulds are readily available in good cookware shops and are a good investment for mini cheesecakes, Victoria sponges or other French pâtisserie classics.

You will need: 4 x 6.5cm-7cm metal pastry rings

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Biscuit base

100g of shortbread
40g of butter

Elderflower mousse

2 egg yolks
30g of sugar
15g of cornflour
3 tbsp of elderflower cordial
2g of platinum grade gelatine leaves, (approx 2 leaves)
175ml of milk
400ml of double cream

Strawberries to decorate

200g of strawberries, small, halved

Strawberry jelly

145g of strawberries, halved
20g of sugar
1/2 gelatine leaf

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Method

To make the biscuit base, place the biscuits in a bowl and crush with a rolling pin, or alternatively blitz in a food processor for a few seconds until the mixture resembles fine sand. Melt the butter and stir through the crushed biscuits until evenly incorporated

Place the food rings on a small tray, lined with greaseproof paper. Divide the biscuit mixture into four and press down well into the base of the food rings in an even layer. Place the tray in the freezer while you make the mousse

For the elderflower mousse, begin by soaking the gelatine in cold water. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it just comes to the boil

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and elderflower cordial together in a small bowl. Remove the milk from the boil, and slowly whisk it into the egg yolk mixture until fully incorporated

Sieve the mixture back into the saucepan and heat for 2 minutes, stirring continuously until thickened. Squeeze out the gelatine leaves and whisk them thoroughly into the hot custard. Set the custard aside for a few minutes to cool

Remove the frozen biscuit bases from the freezer and carefully place a layer of strawberries around the inside edge of each ring mould, cut-side facing outwards

In a large bowl, whisk the double cream into soft peaks. Take a spoonful of the cream and combine it thoroughly with the custard, then gently fold the remaining double cream through the custard until it is smoothly incorporated, but without knocking all the air out of the double cream

Gently spoon the mousse into each ring mould inside the strawberries then carefully smooth the mousse over the top of them to fill the ring mould, leaving at least 2mm of space at the top. Return the ring moulds to the freezer to chill

For the strawberry jelly, place the halved strawberries in a small saucepan with the sugar on a low heat and stir for 2 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Cover and cook for 10 minutes without stirring, until the strawberries have released all their juice

5 minutes before the strawberries are ready, place 1/2 a gelatine leaf into cold water

Strain the strawberries through a sieve into a jug, making sure not to push the strawberries through too much or the jelly will become cloudy. Return the strawberry juice to the pan and heat for 1 minute

Squeeze out the gelatine leaf and stir it into the hot strawberry juice until thoroughly incorporated. Leave the strawberry juice to cool to room temperature before pouring a thin layer over each of the chilled elderflower mousses. Place the mousses in the fridge to set for 30 minutes

To unmould the mousses, remove them from the fridge and gently run a blowtorch very quickly around the sides of the moulds before pulling the moulds off. If you don’t have a blowtorch, the mousses can also be unmoulded by warming the sides of the moulds with your hands before gently pulling the moulds upwards

Decorate with the remaining strawberry halves and serve chilled. These will keep for 24 hours in the fridge, but are best eaten as soon as possible, as the biscuit base will begin to lose its crunch

First published in 2015

DISCOVER MORE:

Strawberry Recipes

Rukmini Iyer

Having left a career as a lawyer to pursue her foodie passions, Rukmini went on to work at Tom Kitchin's The Kitchin in Edinburgh. She is now a food stylist, food writer and recipe developer based in London, and is the author of The Roasting Tin.

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