Strawberry Rum Baba With Elderflower Chantilly Cream Recipe
medium
Ingredients
- 750ml of water
- 1kg caster sugar
- 45g of citric acid
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out and pod reserved
- 10 heads of elderflower
- 1 lemon, peeled (scrape away the pith and reserve the peel), flesh sliced
- 1kg frozen strawberries
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 125g of caster sugar
- 12g of liquid glucose
- 0.6g of ProCrema
- 15g of fresh yeast
- 150ml of warm water
- 550g of strong white flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 150g of unsalted butter, softened
- 50g of caster sugar
- 125ml of whole milk
- 5g of salt
- 400g of strawberries, hulled and quartered and tops reserved
- icing sugar, for dusting
- caster sugar, for macerating
- olive oil, for serving
- 50ml of double cream
- 100g of sugar
- 75ml of water
- 50ml of dark rum
Method · 4 h
- Make the elderflower cordial at least 24 hours before you want to serve the dish. Place the water and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat to dissolve the sugar (do not boil)
- Whisk in the citric acid, then add the vanilla seeds and its pod, the elderflower heads and lemon slices and peel. Transfer to an airtight container and infuse in the fridge for 24 hours
- The bases for the strawberry consommé and sorbet both use the roasted frozen strawberry base – start this the day before you want to serve the dish. Mix all of the ingredients for the roasted strawberries together and set aside to macerate for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C and a water bath to 90°C
- Transfer the macerated strawberries to a roasting tray and roast until the strawberries caramelise and release their juices
- Divide the roasted strawberries in half and transfer each half into its own vacuum bag. Add the reserved tops from the fresh strawberries into 1 of the bags. Vacuum seal and steam both bags in the water bath for 30 minutes
- Strain both bags through a fine mesh sieve into their own individual containers, discarding the solids. Hang both the mixtures in separate muslin or cheesecloths set over separate bowls overnight in the fridge to let them drip through and clarify. The mixture which had the strawberry tops in is for your strawberry consommé; the other is for your sorbet
- The next day, weigh out 125g of the clarified liquid for the sorbet. Place in a blender and blend with the glucose and ProCrema stabiliser. Freeze the mixture in Pacojet containers at -20°C (or churn in an ice cream machine and freeze). Reserve the other batch of consommé liquid in the fridge until needed
- Strain the elderflower mixture through a sieve (discarding the solids) and pour into a sterilised bottle. This will make more cordial than you need – this will last unopened for around 2-3 months, but once opened, keep in the fridge
- For the baba loaf dough, first make a pre-ferment. In a bowl, mix together the yeast and warm water then combine with 150g of the strong flour to form a soft dough. Cover and leave in a warm place for 2 hours until light and bubbly
- For the variations of strawberries, first dehydrate a third (about 130g) of the strawberries. Arrange them skin-side down on a non-stick baking mat, lightly dust with icing sugar and place in a dehydrator. Dehydrate at 70°C for 3 hours, or until they have reduced in size by half and are slightly chewy
- Preheat the oven to 190°C and grease and line a 1.5-litre loaf tin with baking paper
- For the baba loaf dough, transfer the fermented dough to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the remaining ingredients (including the remaining flour) and mix until smooth and elastic. Place in the loaf tin, cover and leave to prove for 40 minutes, or until the dough rises just above the top of the tin
- Bake for 30 minutes until deep golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped. Cool on a wire rack, then cut into slices 0.5cm thick, then stamp out rounds with a 3cm pastry cutter – you will have leftover baba. Set aside and increase the oven to 200°C
- Macerate a third (about 130g) of the fresh strawberries. Place the strawberries in a bowl, season them lightly with caster sugar and a pinch of salt and leave to macerate for 20 minutes
- For the final variation of fresh strawberries, slice the remaining strawberries (about 130g) and reserve for serving
- For the elderflower chantilly, whip the cream to soft peaks using a small hand whisk. Fold in 10ml of the elderflower cordial and continue whipping to a light, spoonable consistency (be careful to not overwhip this)
- For the rum syrup, bring the sugar and water to the boil, remove from the heat and add the rum. Pour enough hot syrup over the baba rounds to coat and set aside briefly to allow them to fully soak
- Pacotise the roasted strawberry sorbet if needed, or just remove it from the freezer for a few minutes to soften
- To serve, place a soaked rum baba disc into the base of each bowl. Arrange the dehydrated, macerated and fresh strawberries around the sponge to form a crown. Pipe or spoon elderflower chantilly into the centre. Quenelle the strawberry sorbet and place on top. Spoon a little consommé around the base and finish with a few drops of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt over the sorbet. Serve immediately
4 hours plus 24 hours infusing time, overnight clarifying time, 2 hours fermenting time and 3 hours dehydrating time
This rum baba dessert is a seasonal celebration of the crossover between ripe early summer strawberries and elderflowers. The elderflowers are bottled into a cordial that goes into a fresh elderflower chantilly cream. An enriched yeasted cake makes the base of the baba, classically finished with rum. Strawberries are roasted and clarified into a consommé that both garnishes the dish and goes into a sorbet base. Strawberries are also served fresh, macerated and dehydrated and chewy like sweets for an enlivening sensory experience.
ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL
ROASTED STRAWBERRY SORBET
BABA LOAF
STRAWBERRY VARIATIONS
ELDERFLOWER CHANTILLY
Water bath
Vacuum bag and machine
Temperature probe
Muslin cloth
Pacojet or ice cream maker
Micro scales
Sterilised bottle
Non-stick baking mat
Dehydrator
1.5-litre loaf tin
3cm pastry cutter
