We’re going to make a lovely wild strawberry, elderflower, pistachio and verbena dessert! It’s a tartelette filled with a pistachio praline, a lemon cream, a basil & verbena sorbet, a elderflower gel and a strawberry cocktail!
The verbena & basil sorbet
5 | apples (450 grams of juice) |
30 grams | lemon juice |
90 grams | sugar |
60 grams | glucose syrup |
20 grams | basil leaves |
15 grams | verbena leaves |
2 grams | ice cream stabilizer (I use stab2000) |
Remove the core from the apples and juice them for 450 grams of apple juice. You can also use store bought apple juice, but I still had a couple in the fridge and really had to use them. Now also add the lemon juice, the sugar, the glucose syrup, the basil leaves and the verbena leaves. Blend this till smooth. The leaves color should be any even green color, otherwise your blender isn’t strong enough or you didn’t blend it long enough. Then add the ice cream stabilizer and blend it for another 30 seconds. Once smooth pass it through a fine sieve and let it rest overnight in your fridge. The next day you can pour it into an ice cream machine and turn it into a beautiful sorbet! It’s best to serve the sorbet as soon as possible, but otherwise keep it covered in a freezer that’s around -12 degrees Celsius.
The lemon & vanilla cream
300 grams | cream |
200 grams | milk |
100 grams | egg yolk |
100 grams | sugar |
40 grams | corn starch |
0.5 | vanilla pod |
1 | lemon |
Mix the cream with the milk, the egg yolk, the sugar and the corn starch. Then cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds. Add both to the pan together with the zest from the lemon. I use a fine microplane, but you can also use a super thin peeler. Now mix it well and while stirring bring this to a boil to thicken it. Because the fat content is so high it’s possible the cream might split, to fix this just add a splash of water and mix it till it’s full emulsified. After that pass it through a fine sieve that remove the lemon zest. Using a ladle will make this a lot easier. Then cover it and let it cool down in your fridge. Once cold transfer it into a piping bag that’s fitted with a small round nozzle and keep it in your fridge for later.
The tartelette
160 grams | flour |
15 grams | egg yolk |
60 grams | water |
20 grams | sunflower oil |
30 grams | sugar |
3 grams | salt |
Transfer the flour on your worktop and use the bowl to make a well in the middle. Fill it with the egg yolk, the water, the sunflower oil, the sugar and the salt. Then start mixing it with a fork and when it starts to thicken, knead it into a nice ball of dough. Once it’s a nice dough cover it and let it rest for at least 1 hour in your fridge. After that flour your worktop and roll out the dough till it’s around 2 to 3 millimeters thin. If you’re having some trouble rolling out the dough let it rest some more. Then cut it with big round cutter and place the circles on a big tartelette mold. Find more information here. Press is down and then place the tops on the bottom. Bake them at 160 degrees Celsius for around 40 minutes till golden brown. Now let them cool down for 5 minutes before leveling the top with a fine grater. Then keep them dry and covered for later.
The elderflower gel
80 grams | elderflowers without stems |
500 grams | water |
400 grams | sugar |
1 | lemon (40 grams of juice) |
First we’ll make an elderflower syrup. Pick enough elderflowers from the stems for 80 grams. Then mix the water with the sugar. Now cut a lemon in half and add 40 grams of the juice. Bring this to a boil. Once it’s boiling turn off the heat and directly add the 80 grams of cleaned elderflower. Make sure it’s submerged and then let it marinade overnight in your fridge. The next day you can pass it through a fine sieve and then the syrup will be great to use for dessert, cocktails or as a simple but delicious lemonade.
150 grams | elderflower syrup |
100 grams | ginger beer |
40 grams | lemon juice |
3 grams | agar powder |
Pour the syrup into a saucepan together with the ginger beer, the lemon juice and the agar powder. Mix this well and then bring this to a boil for 30 seconds. Then pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge. Once it’s cold and set transfer it into a blender and blend it till smooth. Now pour it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later.
The pistachio praline
150 grams | sugar |
50 grams | water |
150 grams | pistachios |
4 grams | flaky salt |
Mix the sugar with the water and caramelize this on a medium heat till it’s a golden brown caramel. Once golden add the pistachios and caramelize it while stirring for another 3 to 4 minutes. Then pour it on a silicon sheet, spread it and let it cool down out of the fridge. After that transfer it into a blender with the flaky salt and blend it till it’s a praline that still has some texture. So not till completely smooth. Now pour it into a bowl and keep it out of the fridge for later.
The strawberry broth
500 grams | cleaned strawberries |
30 grams | elderflowers without stems |
50 grams | sugar |
Normally I use frozen overripe strawberries, but this time I got some fresh ones. They were so good and even cheaper then frozen. First clean the strawberries and transfer them into a pan with the elderflower and the sugar. Cover the pan with a lid and let the strawberries cook on a low heat till completely softened. This takes around an hour. Then drain the broth through a fine sauce sieve or a kitchen paper. Let this drain in your fridge for at least 30 minutes so you don’t waste a single drop. Keep it in your fridge for later.
How to finish the dessert
First fill the bottom of the tartelette with the praline and pipe the vanilla lemon cream on top. Now cover it completely with cleaned wild strawberries. Pipe the elderflower gel in between and decorate the tartelette with small verbena leaves and elderflowers. Then finish the dessert with a nice quenelle of the verbena and basil sorbet and serve it straightaway with the beautiful strawberry broth.