Strawberry & Lemon Verbena Delight

Before starting this Strawberry and Lemon Verbena Delight recipe, make sure you have organised all the necessary ingredients for the crème pâtissière.

Steep the gelatine sheets in cold water.

Pour the cold milk in a saucepan.

Add two bags of lemon verbena herbal tea. Bring the milk to a boil.

In a mixing bowl, separate the egg whites from the yolks. Pour the sugar over the yolks.

Beat vigorously with a whisk until pale and fluffy.

Add the flour. Combine vigorously.

Remove the bags of lemon verbena herbal tea once they have infused for 5 or 10 minutes in hot milk.

Pour the hot milk on the egg yolk preparation.

Combine well with a whisk.

Return the saucepan to the heat and cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens.

Drain the gelatine sheets, extracting as much water as possible.

Add the strained gelatine to the hot crème pâtissière.

Combine gently with a whisk until the gelatine has completely dissolved.
Reserve the crème (do not store in the fridge).

For the Italian meringue: In a saucepan, pour the sugar (100g), glucose and water. Bring to a boil on medium heat.

In the stand mixer recipient, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Add the remaining sugar (30g) and whisk again for a few seconds.

When the sugar reaches 121°C (the use of an infrared thermometer or digital thermometer is recommended)...

... pour over the beaten egg whites in a thin stream at medium speed to ensure that the sugar incorporates well with the egg whites. This will prevent the sugar from sticking to the whisk and forming a ball.

Increase the speed of the food mixer to maximul speed.

Beat for approximately 30 seconds until the egg whites are combined and firm.

Add one third of the meringue to the warm crème pâtissière.

Combine well with a whisk to avoid lumps.

Add the crème pâtissière to the remaining meringue while it is still hot.

Gently combine with a rubber spatula.

Finish by a couple of whisk motions to avoid lumps and obtain an homogeneous preparation. This lemon verbena-flavoured crème chiboust is ready.

Line the bottom of a mousse ring (diameter 20cm) with cling film. Stretch it so that there are no folds.
Place the ring on a baking sheet (side lined with cling film facing down).

Fill with the lemon verbena crème chiboust.

Spread evenly at the bottom and create a volcano shape, so that the crème goes all the way up the sides of the ring. Reserve in the fridge.

For the rich shortcrust pastry: In the food mixer recipient, place the sugar and softened butter.

Add the flour and egg yolk.

Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape the seeds with the tip of a knife. Add the vanilla seeds into the bowl.

Combine using the flat beater until homogeneous. Do not work the preparation excessively.

Scoop the pastry into a piping bag.

Using a mousse ring of the same diameter, draw a circle on a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Flip the sheet over and place it on a baking sheet (the drawn circle should be facing down).

Pipe the pastry in a spiral motion...

... starting at the outer edge and working inwards.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas 4) and bake...

... until the pastry is cooked...

... and has a nice golden colour.

For the strawberry marmalade: Steep the gelatine sheets in cold water.

Cut the strawberries into quarters and place them in a saucepan, together with the sugar.

Cook the preparation on medium heat until it has the consistency of a marmalade (it should be a kind of syrup with small pieces of strawberries).

Drain the gelatine sheets, extracting as much water as possible.

Add them to the strawberry marmalade.

Gently combine until the gelatine is completely dissolved into the marmalade.

For the strawberry bavarian cream: Steep the gelatine sheets in cold water.

Remove the stems and cut the strawberries into quarters. Place them in a saucepan.

Mix the strawberries using a hand mixer.

Add the caster sugar.

Heat the preparation, while combining gently with a spatula.

Drain the gelatine sheets, extracting as much water as possible.

Add the gelatine to the hot strawberry purée.

Combine gently until the gelatine is completely dissolved.

Pour the hot strawberry coulis (make sure it hasn't jellified) on a baking sheet with rolled edges. The reduced thickness of a baking sheet will help the strawberry coulis cool down quickly. Do not place the sheet in the fridge, as the gelatine would solidify. The preparation should remain liquid.

Beat the whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream.

Combine the whipped cream and strawberry coulis. The coulis should be cold, but not jellified. Combine with a spatula.

Cut a circle in the pastry, using a ring with the same diameter as the mousse ring.

Remove the pastry scraps.

Remove the crème chiboust from the fridge. Spread a layer of strawberry marmalade in the central hole.

Then cover with the strawberry bavarian cream.

Even the surface and place a few wild strawberries.

Cover with the pastry disk.

Gently press on the pastry disk for better adherence. Reserve in the fridge.

A few hours later, remove from the fridge. Flip the mould upside down so that the pastry side is facing down.

Gently remove the cling film.

Sprinkle the surface with soft dark brown sugar.

Spread into a thin layer. Remove the sugar excess by tilting the cake.

Caramelize the surface with a blow torch. A blow torch will be more efficient than a salamander, which would melt the cake.

Gently remove the mousse ring. If necessary, you can slightly heat the sides of the mousse ring with the blow torch to facilitate the release.
Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve.