Strawberry Fools, With Jordans Cereals And Edd Kimber Recipe

Anyone here a fan/follower of the BBC series The Great British Bake Off? If yes then you must surely remember Edd Kimber - the boy who bakes- the winner of 2010 series.  He became quite popular after winning the series and ofcourse because of his astounding baking adventures. So it happened 2 weeks back when I was approached to try any of the 3 recipes that Edd has created using Jordan Cereals and I said yes without giving any second thoughts.

Jordan Cereals as a part of their countryside celebration has teamed up with Edd to create food recipes inspired by the The Jordans Wildlife Garden. The range of three exiting new recipes included a tasty and easy to make Mixed Berry Traybake with Rosehip Syrup for a tangy finish and a Cherry Plum crumble With Cobnuts-warming, comforting and packed with wild cherry plums and the wonderfully nutty flavour of British cobnuts.

Even though the above choices were interesting and dashingly tasty, I chose to try -THE ALPINE STRAWBERRY FOOL- a simple, delicious and traditional English dessert. It is prepared using Jordans Country Crisp Strawberries which are crunchy baked cereal clusters of oats with a smattering of chopped hazelnuts and a generous handful of silky-smooth strawberries chucked in on top. Just mix it up with yogurt, milk or whipped cream, you are ought to enjoy it every time.

Coming back to the dessert-I totally prize the idea of serving it up into the individual glasses-so apt and perfect for barbeque parties and sleepovers. Edd explained the recipe and instructions so well that I understood it all just after one read. The pictures might intimidate you but trust me it is very simple and even a novice can make it to the perfection.   After cooking strawberries, its flavour profile intensifies and you are left with something so simple yet so elegant, you won’t believe your taste buds. The layer of creamy custard, velvety whipped cream and crunchy bits of cereals when sums up together as a dessert it is magical, luxurious and irresistible.

Recipe Halved from Here

Ingredients:

For Custard

250ml whole milk

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

100g caster sugar

15g corn flour

For Strawberry Compote

400g alpine strawberries, hulled and diced

85g caster sugar

To finish

300ml double cream

Crystallised rose petals (optional)

70g Jordans Country Crisp Strawberries

Method:

For the custard

Place the milk and vanilla bean paste into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Whilst coming to temperature, place the egg and yolks into a large bowl along with the caster sugar and the cornflour, whisking together until smooth. Pour the hot milk onto the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour this custard back into the pan and over medium heat, stir constantly until the custard has thickened (it should have the texture of custard made with powder, thicker than a crème analgise but still pourable). Pour back into the bowl and press a sheet of cling film onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate until cold.

For the strawberry compote

Place the strawberries and sugar into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until the fruit has released lots of juice. Continue to cook until the juice has reduced to syrup and the strawberries have just started to break down. Pour into a small bowl and refrigerate until chilled.

To assemble the fools

Divide half of the compote between six glasses and top with the custard. Sprinkle the Jordans Country Crisp Strawberries onto the custard and then set the glasses aside for the moment. In a large bowl whisk the cream until it holds soft peaks, add most of the remaining compote (reserving a little to decorate the desserts) and gently fold together, leaving it partially swirled in. Spoon the cream mixture into the glasses.

To finish the fool

Spoon the remaining compote on top of the cream and sprinkle a little extra Jordans Country Crisp Strawberries. If you want to make the decoration of the dessert extra special, add one or two crystallised rose petals to each glass. To make these, paint rose petals with a thin layer of egg white and dip into sugar, making sure everything is covered. Set the petals onto a parchment lined baking tray and allow drying out for at least two hours, but preferably overnight.

Notes:

When folding in the compote, use a very light hand to ensure a pretty rippling effect.

Be sure to stop whipping the cream as soon it holds soft peaks as, if you are refrigerating, it will keep the mixture silky smooth.
You cannot make this dessert ahead of time, as the cereals will get soggy. 

Disclaimer: I was not paid or told to write positive review. The post is based on my experience and is unbiased. Thanking Jordans Cereals for sending Strawberry Country Crisp  for review.

Linking this at  Maison Cupcake’s challenge page and Elizebeth's Kitchen Diary