Elderflower posset with strawberries
Posset used to be a milk and ale-based drink. Nowadays, the name has become more associated with this dessert, whereby cream is curdled and set by the addition of lemon or lime juice. It makes a great, refreshing dessert for after lunch.
Serves five
300g whipping cream 150g caster sugar 5g fresh elderflower juice and grated zest of 2 limes (plus an extra 20ml of juice for the posset) 150ml water 100ml pink champagne half a vanilla pod punnet of strawberries (to garnish)
1 To make the champagne syrup, cut the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out all the seeds.
2 In a saucepan, combine the seeds with the juice and zest from the 2 limes, water, pink champagne and 80g of the caster sugar. Bring the mixture to the boil and leave to simmer for around two minutes.
3 Remove from the heat, leave to cool, then refrigerate until required.
4 For the posset, in a pan, bring the cream, 70g of sugar and elderflower to the boil and leave to infuse for around 30 minutes.
5 Strain the mixture then place back on the hob to heat up.
6 Just before it starts boiling, whisk in the 20ml of lime juice rapidly and then remove from the heat. Immediately pour the mixture into glasses of your choice and refrigerate. It’ll set within 20 to 30 minutes.
7 Garnish with fresh strawberries and serve with your pre-prepared cold champagne syrup.
Crème fraîche tart
Another one of my favourite combinations is crème fraîche and red berries – they go so well together and balance each other perfectly. Essentially, this is a custard tart but by using crème fraîche, it becomes very refreshing and literally melts in the mouth. Delicious.
Serves six
200g crème fraîche 200g whipping cream 80g sugar 3 whole eggs 1 tbsp cornflour juice and zest of half a lime 6 tsp raspberrry jam fresh raspberries, to serve
1 Prepare six individual, pre-baked sweet pastry cases with a dollop of raspberry jam in them.
2 Combine approximately one third of the whipping cream with the cornflour and the eggs using a whisk. Ensure you mix well to avoid any lumps forming.
3 Heat up the remaining cream with the sugar and the crème fraîche. When the mixture is boiling, remove from the heat and slowly stir into the egg mix.
4 Preheat the oven to 140C/gas Mark 1.
5 Pour the combined mixture back into the saucepan and bring to the boil again, stirring constantly so the mix doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. When the custard starts to thicken, remove from the heat, add the lime juice and the zest, and spoon into the prepared tart cases. Cook for about 12 minutes in the oven, or until the custard is completely set.
6 Leave to cool then top with fresh raspberries or any other fruits of your choice before serving.
Earl Grey tea shortbread
To round off our dessert extravaganza, I’ve picked something that is one of the pillars of Scottish
culinary heritage, shortbread. To put a little twist on the well-known biscuit, I added some Earl Grey tea. Feel free to use other teas but Earl Grey works extremely well.
Serves five
110g unsalted butter 50g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting a pinch of salt grated zest of half an orange 3g (1 levelled tsp) of Earl Grey tea, loose leaf (alternatively you can use matcha green tea powder instead) 160g plain flour good quality milk chocolate for coating (optional)
1 Preheat your oven to 160C/gas Mark 2.
2 If you’re not using the matcha powder, using a pestle and mortar, grind the Earl Grey tea until it forms a very fine powder.
3 Sieve the flour and the ground tea together.
4 Mix together the butter, sugar and salt in a bowl and then add the remaining ingredients. This should form a dough which easily comes away from the mixing bowl.
5 Shape the mixture so it resembles a brick structure and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.
6 Roll the shortbread out to 1.5cm (½ inch) thickness and place on to a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the shortbread is starting to turn golden brown, then remove from the oven and sprinkle with caster sugar.
7 Cut the shortbread in to the desired shapes (this might be fingers, rounds or squares), while still hot, then leave to cool. You can dip the shortbread in tempered milk chocolate or enjoy it plain. Store in an airtight container until needed.