Sweet glazed strawberries, aromatic cream, and delicate Champagne snow in a refined summer dessert.
Building the Dish
Fresh, fragrant, and delicately indulgent, this dessert is built around the timeless pairing of ripe strawberries and cream. Sweet, glazed strawberries are layered beneath a Lemon Verbena cream before being finished with a delicate Strawberry & Champagne snow for freshness, texture, and subtle effervescence.
Preserving Peak Strawberry Flavour
This dish is designed to celebrate strawberries at their absolute best. Working with beautifully fragrant fruit from Hugh Lowe Farms, we wanted to preserve and amplify their flavour naturally rather than mask it beneath sugar or flavourings.
Using pectinase allows us to gently extract a pure strawberry juice, packed with fresh aroma and concentrated fruit character. That juice becomes a glaze for the strawberries themselves, reinforcing the flavour of the fruit and adding natural shine.
Creating a Light Verbena Cream
Lemon verbena has long been a classic pairing for strawberries, its delicate citrus perfume and soft herbal character enhancing the fruit without overwhelming it. Rather than competing for attention, it brings freshness and brightness that help elevate the natural sweetness and aroma of the strawberries.
To carry those notes through the cream, we've used our Lemon Verbena Flavour Burst, delivering a concentrated lift of flavour that runs consistently throughout the component. Combined with UltraGel 5, the result is a cream that is light, smooth, and beautifully stable, with a texture that sits somewhere between softly whipped cream and a delicate mousse.
Cold Pressed Strawberry Juice
Ingredients
800g strawberries
10 lemon verbena leaves
Method
Place all the ingredients into a Thermomix.
Set the temperature to 40°C and blend at speed 2, allowing the mix to come to temperature until the fruit starts to break down.
Once complete, pass through a cheese cloth or
Claribag.
Strawberry Juice Glaze
Ingredients
Cold Pressed Strawberry Juice
UltraTex (just enough to thicken slightly)
sugar (to taste)
Method
Pour the cold-pressed strawberry juice into a mixing bowl and sprinkle over the UltraTex.
Using a handheld balloon whisk, whisk together, ensuring dispersion of the UltraTex powder until achieving a thicker consistency.
Add the malic acid and sugar to taste and whisk again until combined.
Lemon Verbena Cream
Makes: 1042g (approx)
Ingredients
650g double cream
300g milk
80g sugar
Method
In a pan, combine the cream, milk and half of the sugar and heat, keeping it above 80°C.
In a separate bowl, mix the UltraGel 5 and the remaining half of the sugar together.
Disperse the powder mix in the pan of hot cream mixture and bring to boil, whisking well for 1 to 2 minutes, to activate the UltraGel 5.
Pour into a tray and leave to cool for approximately 4 hours until completely cold and firm.
Once set, put the mixture into a kitchen aid with the whisk attachment and add the Lemon verbena flavour burst.
Whisk this until it's smooth and light.
Scrape into a piping bag and refrigerate.
Strawberry and Champagne Snow
Ingredients
500g Cold Pressed Strawberry Juice
200g champagne
30g - 50g sugar (variable depending on sugar content reading)
Method
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together.
Using a Brix Refractometer, check the sugar content, aiming for a reading between 18-20, and adjust sugar addition as necessary.
Once within the reading range, pour the mixture through the
100% Chef Ice Chef for perfect snow-like shavings.
Alternatively, the mixture can be frozen in a large block and scraped with a spoon.
Notes
For this recipe, we specifically selected strawberries from
Hugh Lowe Farms for their exceptional sweetness, aroma, and depth of flavour, allowing the fruit to remain the defining feature throughout the dessert.
To achieve the correct texture and setting properties, UltraGel 5 must be heated above 85°C and boiled for 1-2 minutes to fully activate its setting properties.
UltraGel 5 is first mixed with sugar, as this helps the powder disperse evenly and prevents lumps from forming.
UltraTex is best added using hands to carefully sprinkle and must always be dispersed using a whisk as the force from stick blenders or Thermomix’s will breakdown the starch.
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