Description
Flaky puff pastry layered with fresh strawberries, lemon-basil cream, and a touch of white chocolate. It’s elegant, light, and not nearly as complicated as it looks.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Puff Pastry
- 222g (8oz) plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 250g (9oz) unsalted butter, cold but not rock hard
- 150ml ice-cold water
Filling and Layers
- 600g fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 250ml double cream (1 cup)
- 3 tbsp caster sugar (plus extra for pastry)
- 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Small bunch of basil leaves, finely shredded
- Good quality white chocolate, for grating
Instructions
- Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, then chill the bowl for 10 minutes (cold helps the layers stay flaky).
- Cut the butter into small cubes and stir it into the flour with a round-bladed knife until it is well coated.
- Add the cold water and quickly bring it together into a rough dough. Don’t knead.
- Shape into a flat sausage, wrap in clingfilm, and chill for 15 minutes.
- Lightly flour your surface. Roll dough into a rectangle about 45x15cm (18x6in), about 1cm thick.
- Fold the bottom third up, then the top third down. Rotate so the open edge is to the right, like a book.
- Repeat rolling and folding 4 times, resting the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes if it resists.
- Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.
- Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Roll out the chilled pastry to a large rectangle. Sprinkle with caster sugar, cover with baking parchment, and place another baking sheet on top (this keeps it flat).
- Bake 12–15 minutes, until golden and crisp. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Whip the cream with 3 tbsp caster sugar and the vanilla just until it holds soft peaks.
- Fold in lemon zest, shredded basil, and half the chopped strawberries. Chill until needed.
- Trim pastry into a neat 28x30cm rectangle, then cut into 3 equal rectangles.
- Place one rectangle on a board. Spread with half the cream mixture.
- Add the second rectangle, grate over some white chocolate, and top with the remaining cream.
- Finish with the final pastry layer. Press gently so the filling starts to peek out.
- Grate more white chocolate on top.
- Serve right away as the pastry is crispest on the first day.
Notes
Created, prepared, tried, and tested by Joy
