Fruit & Bavarian Cream Verrines

Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl filled with cold water. Cut the gelatine sheets by folding in half, then immerse them one at a time.

In a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil...

... and add the vanilla pod (split in half lengthwise and seeds out), or the vanilla seeds.

In the meantime, place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl.

Add the castor sugar and combine with a whisk. Whisk immediately.

Blanch by whisking vigorously for 1 or 2 minutes.

When the milk starts boiling, pour it over the blanched preparation and whisk until homogeneous.

Transfer the preparation into the saucepan used to boil the milk...

... and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, making 8-shaped motions at the bottom of the pan. This technique is the one traditionally used for crème anglaise (custard).

... take the pan away from the heat and pass the cream through a fine sieve to remove any lumps.

Squeeze the gelatine to strain, making sure not to squash it.

Add the gelatin to the hot cream...

... and combine carefully with a whisk until the gelatine has completely dissolved.

Ideally, use a large dish instead of a bowl so the preparations spreads into a thin layer to cool down faster. Do not refrigerate. Leave to cool at room temperature.

Spread the preparation on a Silpat baking mat to a thickness of 0.5cm. Bake at 180°C (gas 4) for about 12 minutes, preferably in a fan assisted oven. When cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.

For the fruit coulis: Organise all the necessary ingredients. I used raspberry and mango purée for this recipe, but of course you can use any fruit combination of your choice.

Add the castor sugar to the mango purée and combine.

... and combine with a whisk. Set aside.

In the stand mixer recipient, beat the cold whipping cream...

... until you get a whipped cream. Make sure the cream is cold for this operation. I recommend storing the bowl and whisk in the freezer beforehand. Set aside.

Place the cold Bavarian cream in a mixing bowl and scrape the sides of the dish with a rubber spatula.

Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the vanilla Bavarian cream and combine vigorously with a whisk...

Add the rest of the whipped cream...

Place the verrine cups on a baking sheet.

Using an Exoglass pastry cutter Ø 4cm, cut the Joconde biscuit into discs. We need two discs per cup, i.e. a total of 24 biscuit discs.

Dip the Joconde biscuit discs in the cold syrup.

Place a steeped biscuit disc at the bottom of each verrine cup.

Using a small ladle, fill each cup halfway up with vanilla bavarian cream and avoid drippings over the inside of the cup.

... add a tablespoon of raspberry coulis...

... and a tablespoon of mango coulis. Try to keep both coulis separate so they are visible through the cup.

Add a second steeped biscuit disc.

... and fill each cup.

Finish with a tablespoon of mango coulis.

Arrange three raspberries on top of each cup. Refrigerate until set.

Follow our recipe for the bubble sugar decorations.

When the sugar decorations are cold, break them into large pieces...

... and prick them vertically in the vanilla cream.

The final result should look like this. Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!