Straw-buzz-berry

White chocolate parfait:

• 450ml of whipping cream 
• 220ml of water 
• 30ml of glucose 
• 5 g of titanium dioxide 
• 9 egg yolks
• 90g of milk powder 
• 300g of white chocolate 

Strawberry jelly:

• 300 ml of Boiron strawberry purée 
• 2g of agar agar 
• 2 golden gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water 

Sechuan Button meringue shards and kisses:

• 165g egg whites 
• 165g of caster sugar 
• 165g of icing sugar 
• 1 tsp cream of tartar 
• 12 Sechuan Buttons, yellow tops chopped, stems discarded 
• 2 limes, zest only 

Basil, lime and Sechuan Button ice cream:

• 250ml of milk 
• 75ml of double cream 
• 100g fresh basil leaves 
• 2 egg yolks 
• 1 lime, juice and zest  
• 65g of caster sugar 
• 8 Sechuan Buttons, yellow tops chopped, stems discarded 

Basil gel:

• 75g of basil leaves 
• 75ml of stock syrup 
• 3g of Ultratex 

Strawberry gel:

• 500ml of Boiron strawberry purée 
• 5g of agar agar 
• 2 springs of basil 

Strawberry powder:

• 200g of strawberries, hulled 

Centrifuged strawberry juice (for broth):

• 1.8kg strawberries, frozen or fresh 

Strawberry broth (for compressing): 

• 1kg centrifuged strawberry juice 
• 275g fructose 
• 12g malic acid 

Compressed strawberries: 

• 200g strawberries, fresh and ripe 
• 200g strawberry broth 
• 20ml of strawberry vinegar 
• 1 pinch of salt 

Lime yoghurt:

• 100g plain white yoghurt 
• 1 lime, zest and juice 
• 1 tbsp of clear pure honey 

Macerated strawberries:

• 100g water 
• 100g caster sugar 
• 10g malic acid 
• 4 strawberries, fresh and ripe 

To plate:

• lime zest from 1/4 lime 
• 1/2 of grated Sechuan Button 
• 1 handful of basil top leaves 

White chocolate parfait:

For the white chocolate parfait, whip 375ml of cream into soft peaks. Keep chilled. Bring the water and glucose to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks until they are light and fluffy slowly adding the glucose mixture until combined. 

Bring the remaining cream (75ml) almost to the boil with the milk powder and titanium dioxide and pour it over the chocolate. Whizz with a hand blender until emulsified to a ganache. 

Add a little egg yolk to the chocolate mix to loosen it and then fold the rest in. Fold in the whipped cream. Leave to cool in the fridge. Once cold roll the parfait mix in cling film to form cylinders. Transfer to the freezer. 

Strawberry jelly:

For the strawberry jelly, heat the strawberry purée, add the agar and heat to 72°C. Whisk in soaked and drained gelatine and pour onto an acetate sheet to a thickness of 2mm then chill in the fridge. Wrap around the white chocolate parfait once chilled and portion into 2 cm cylinders. 

Sechuan Button meringue shards and kisses: 

Preheat the oven to 90°C/gas mark 1/4.

For the meringues, Make the Sechuan Buttons sugar by blitzing the caster sugar with the Sechuan Buttons. Grate in the lime zest. 

Place the egg whites in a large, spotlessly clean bowl – any fat in the bowl will stop the whites from expanding to their full volume. Using a handheld electric whisk, or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, whip the egg whites. Once they reach soft peaks, gradually sprinkle the Sechuan sugar and continue to whip until it reaches stiff peaks. 

Sift the icing sugar and the cream of tartar into the meringue until combined and glossy. 

For the tuiles, using an offset spatula, spread the meringue thinly (about 2mm thick) onto a silicone mat or baking paper. Thin shards are elegant but if you spread it too thin, the shards will be very brittle and not hold its shape. Reserve 1/2 of the mix for kisses. 

For the kisses. Transfer remaining mix to a piping bag and pipe shapes as desired onto a silicon mat or baking paper.  

Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the meringue is crisp on top but not coloring (thicker shapes may take slightly longer).

Allow to cool completely on the tray then peel off the shapes or snap the sheet into shards to serve. 

Basil, lime and Sechuan Button ice cream: 

Make the Sechuan Buttons sugar by blitzing the caster sugar with the Sechuan Buttons.  

For the basil purée, blanch the basil in boiling salted water, then chill in iced water. Squeeze out all the excess liquid and put into a blender with the juice and zest from 1 lime, then blitz and pass through a sieve into a mixing bowl and set over iced water. Stir so that the purée cools quickly. 

Gently bring the milk and cream to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and the Sechuan buttons sugar together until thick and pale, then pour the cream mix into the yolks, whisking to combine. Little at a time, stirring continuously so as not to scramble the egg yolks. 

Pour the mix back into the pan and stir over a low heat until it reaches 75°C and thickened. Remove from heat and add the basil purée and mix well. 

Pass through a sieve into a mixing bowl and set over iced water. Stir so that the mixture cools quickly. Once the mixture is chilled, churn in an ice cream maker. Store in the freezer. 

Basil gel:

For the basil gel, blanch the basil in boiling salted water, then chill in iced water. Squeeze out all the excess liquid and put into a blender with the stock syrup, then blitz and pass through a sieve. Weight out 65g of the gel and whisk in the Ultratex. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and re-whisk. Chill and transfer into piping bag. 

Strawberry gel:

For the strawberry gel, warm the strawberry purée, add the basil then infuse for 1 hour. Pass through a sieve into a clean pan then add the agar and heat to 72°C. Pour onto a tray and set in the fridge. Once set blitz in a blender and pass through a fine sieve. Chill and transfer into piping bag. 

Strawberry powder:

To make the strawberry powder, dry the strawberries in a dehydrator for 6 hours until absolutely dry. Blitz in a blender to a powder. Keep in air-tight container.  

Centrifuged strawberry juice (for broth):

Thaw frozen strawberries, or wash and trim tops off fresh strawberries. 

Blend strawberries on high until they form a smooth puree, about a minute. 

Divide puree equally among centrifuge bottles. Do this by weighing each bottle, along with its cap, and add or remove puree until all of bottles have the same weight. 

Centrifuge at maximum speed for 10 minutes, or until the pulp has entirely separated from the juice. Decant the juice through a fine-mesh sieve. 

Don’t have a centrifuge? Alternatively lightly sugar the berries and let them sit. Juice will slowly seep from the berries' cell walls.  

Strawberry broth (for compressing): 

Combine juice, fructose, and malic acid.  

Compressed strawberries:

Package strawberries and broth in sous vide bag. Pull a full vacuum. Drain berries, slice in halve/quarters if they are large and some in slices. Blow torch strawberries before serving. 

Lime yoghurt:

Combine yoghurt, zest and juice from lime, and honey. Transfer into piping bag.  

Macerated strawberries:

To make a syrup, combine water, sugar and Malic acid in a pot. Warm over low heat until dissolved. Place a bowl in an ice bath. Pour syrup into bowl, stirring to chill it. Trim green parts from strawberries, and discard. Dice berries as finely as possible without mashing them. Place strawberries in chilled syrup, stir, and let stand for 10 minutes. Strain and use as a base for basil ice cream for plating. 

To plate:

To plate, arrange compressed strawberries on the plate alongside with parfait, meringue shards and kisses. Pipe dots of the strawberry and basil gel between berries. Pipe dots of the lime yoghurt. Add macerated strawberries on the side of all garnish and sit a quenelle of the ice cream on the top. Sprinkle over the strawberry powder, lime zest and grated Sechuan Button. Finish with basil tops leaves. 

Recipe: Lee Ladislav Poustevnik