Aerated elderflower parfait, strawberry gel and glaze, sablé Breton

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Michael Wignall complements a stunning aerated elderflower parfait with strawberry gel and glaze, a smattering of wild strawberries and more unusual additions of olive oil jam and a zingy elderflower sherbet.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Aerated elderflower parfait

  • 170g of elderflower
  • 270g of egg yolks
  • 180g of water
  • 4 gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water
  • 67g of sugar
  • 20g of fondant
  • 255g of cream

Raisins

Elderflower oil

Olive oil jam

  • 50g of glucose
  • 50g of trimoline
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 185g of extra virgin olive oil
  • 2g of salt

Sablé Breton

  • 110g of self-raising flour
  • 3g of baking powder
  • 40g of egg yolks
  • 80g of sugar
  • 80g of butter

Strawberry glaze

Strawberry gel

Elderflower sherbet

  • 30g of absorbit
  • 1g of citric acid
  • 15g of icing sugar
  • 1g of bicarbonate of soda
  • 30g of Isomalt sugar

Clotted cream rocks

  • 200g of clotted cream
  • 200g of milk
  • 20g of pro espuma

Equipment

  • Sous vide equipment
  • Thermomix
  • Food mixer
  • Vacuum box
  • Blender
  • Espuma gun
  • Liquid nitrogen

Method

1
Start by preparing the raisins. Place the raisins and elderflower cordial into a vacuum bag and seal. Leave to infuse for 3 days
2
Preheat a water bath to 68°C
3
For the elderflower oil, place the elderflowers and rapeseed oil into a vacuum bag and seal. Cook for 40 minutes. Leave to cool then pass through muslin cloth and chill
4
Now make the parfait. Blend the yolks, water and elderflowers in a Thermomix at 68°C for 3 minutes, then add the gelatine. Pass through a fine sieve
5
Place 200g of the mixture into a mixer bowl with the sugar and fondant. Whisk on a high speed until thick and fluffy
  • 67g of sugar
  • 20g of fondant
6
Whip the cream to stiff peaks and fold into the elderflower mix in two stages. Mix 120g of the final mix with 20g of the elderflower oil and transfer to the vacuum lock box
  • 255g of cream
7
Place into the vacuum chamber and vacuum until it has increased 5 times in size. Transfer to the freezer for 4 hours
8
To make the olive oil jam, boil the glucose and trimoline and add to a blender. Allow to cool, then slowly blend in the yolks, followed by the olive oil. Season to taste with salt
  • 50g of glucose
  • 50g of trimoline
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 185g of extra virgin olive oil
  • 2g of salt
9
Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas mark 1
10
To make the sablé Breton, sift the flour with the baking powder. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy then slowly add the butter until fully incorporated
  • 110g of self-raising flour
  • 3g of baking powder
  • 40g of egg yolks
  • 80g of sugar
  • 80g of butter
11
Gently fold in the flour, then roll out to a thickness of 1cm and bake on a tray for 20-25 minutes until light brown
12
For the strawberry glaze, reduce the strawberry juice with the sugar until a syrup consistency is reached
13
For the gel, bring the strawberry juice to the boil with the agar, boil for 1 minute then transfer to a container until set. When fully set, blitz in a blender until smooth and pass through a fine sieve
14
To make the elderflower sherbet, mix together all of the dry ingredients then slowly drizzle in 40g of elderflower oil, whisking all the time until a powder is formed
  • 15g of icing sugar
  • 1g of bicarbonate of soda
  • 30g of Isomalt sugar
  • 30g of absorbit
  • 1g of citric acid
15
Blend together the clotted cream, milk and pro espuma and pass through a sieve into a gas canister. Charge with one charge and give it a good shake
  • 200g of clotted cream
  • 200g of milk
  • 20g of pro espuma
16
Squirt small irregular dots of the mixture into liquid nitrogen. When frozen, pass into a container and store in the freezer
17
To plate, cut the parfait into portions and place one piece in the middle of each plate. Dot the strawberry and olive oil gels around, glaze the wild strawberries in the strawberry glaze and arrange on plates alongside the raisins
18
Crush up the sablé Breton and sprinkle over the parfait. Finish with the elderflower sherbet, freeze-dried strawberries and clotted cream rocks
First published in 2015

Michael Wignall could have been a professional BMX biker. It was a fortunate day for foodies everywhere when he decided instead to work under legendary Northern chef Paul Heathcote.

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