Make the most of early Irish strawberries with this recipe.
Ingredients
For the strawberries
- 300g early Irish strawberries, hulled, sliced into quarters through the poles
- 1 tbsp jaggery, finely grated, or soft light brown sugar
- Pinch of sea salt flakes
- 4 green cardamom pods, seeds only crushed, or 1 level tsp ground cardamom powder
- 1 small pinch chilli flakes or powder
- 4 to 5 basil leaves, torn
- 1 tsp lemon juice, optional
For the chilli jaggery cream
- 200g double cream
- 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tbsp jaggery, finely grated, or soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 1 small pinch chilli flakes or chilli powder
For the palmier wafers
- 1 sheet best all butter puff pastry, store-bought is perfect
- 50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 25g Green Saffron Garam Masala
- 200g Demerara or granulated white sugar, any type of sugar is fine really
To finish
25g pistachios, roughly chopped
Method
Make the garam palmier wafers
Heat the oven to 200°C, or 180°C fan, Gas 6
Roll the pastry to 3 to 5mm, brush with the butter, sprinkle over the sugar and spice, then gently roll again to ease the sugar and spice into the pastry surface.
Fold the long sides of the sheet halfway to the middle, then fold in the same way again this time meeting in the middle. Cover with spice and sugar, then fold one half onto the other, resulting in 6 layers. Pop in the fridge for 15 to 20 mins
Slice the dough into 1cm thick lozenges, dip into a little spice and sugar, pop onto a baking parchment lined tray cut side up and bake for around 10 mins until caramelised and delicious looking.
Transfer to a cooling rack; they'll crisp and crunch-up as they cool, Set aside.
Next: work the strawberries
Put about two thirds of the strawberries into a bowl with the jaggery, pinch of sea salt flakes, cardamom and chilli. Lightly crush with the back of a fork so they go juicy and a little wild, but still keep some shape.
Fold the remaining quartered strawberries through for texture. Add the torn basil and a squeeze of lemon juice if the fruit needs brightness.
Make the cream
Whip the double cream until softly thickened. Fold in the Greek yoghurt, icing sugar, jaggery, vanilla and chilli. Keep it soft and spoonable, not stiff.
Assemble
Spoon the chilli jaggery cream into the base of each coupe. Top with the smashed strawberries and their juices. Scatter over the pistachios. Finish by tucking in a palmier wafer at an angle. Serve straight away. Then, if you’d like to go full indulgence mode; for orchard brightness, add a splash of Calvados or for warmth and velvet depth, go Armagnac. Either way, with or without, enjoy!
