Lavender Lemonade

* 2 cups sugar
* 5 sprigs lavender (stems and buds), plus additional for garnish
* 2 cups fresh lemon juice (from about 10 lemons)
* 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from about 4 limes)

Directions: In a large saucepan, bring one gallon of water and the sugar to a boil. Remove from heat; add 7 lavender sprigs and lemon and lime juices. Cool to room temperature, strain, and chill. Serve on ice, with additional lavender for garnish.

Mango Gelée with Mango Cubes
~ adopted from Tony Wong’s dessert series

150 grams fresh mango, diced
100 grams mango purée
25 grams granulated sugar
2 grams sheet gelatine

Warm half of the mango purée with the sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat. In the meantime, soak the sheet gelatine in ice water. Remove saucepan from heat once sugar completely dissolved. Squeeze off excess water and add the softened gelatine to the warm mango purée. Add the rest of the purée and diced mangoes and mix well. Let it cool to room temperature then spoon the mixture on top of the chilled crème fraîch panna cotta to about 2/3 of the height of the glasses/cups. Let it set in the refrigerator, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Mango Mousse
~ adopted from Tony Wong’s dessert series

150 grams mango purée
15 grams granulated sugar
3½ grams sheet gelatine
120 grams heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Warm half of the mango purée with the sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat. In the meantime, soak the sheet gelatine in ice water. Remove saucepan from heat once sugar completely dissolved. Squeeze off excess water and add the softened gelatine to the warm purée and stir until completely dissolved. Add the rest of the purée; stir to combine then let it cool to room temperature.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream until soft peaks then using a rubber spatula; fold the whipped cream into the purée base until fully incorporated (no more white streak). Pour this mousse on top of the mango gelée, smooth it out using the back of a spoon and let it set in the refrigerator, about 1 hour.

For garnish:
Mango Coulis
100 grams mango purée
20 grams granulated sugar

Warm half of the mango purée with the sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove saucepan from heat once sugar completely dissolved. Add the rest of the purée; stir to combine then let it cool to room temperature. Pour it on top of the mango mousse layers, swirl the cup until it covers the mousse completely. Chill in the refrigerator while you prepare to torch some mango cubes – take care not to burn them! If you like, you can also add some edible flakes to dress them up.

Poire William Mousse with Caramel Biscuit – make 8 -10 individual cakes

Caramel Sauce
275g caster sugar
110ml whipping cream
135g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
1/3cup water
1tsp fleur de sel

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for 8-10 minutes or until dark-amber in color then remove from heat. Carefully add cream, butter and fleur de sel (mixture will spit) and stir. Return to heat and cook for 3 minutes or until smooth, remove from heat. Pour caramel into an airtight container, let cool and store in the refrigerator.

Caramel Biscuit Cake

Italian Meringue
4 medium egg whites
80g caster sugar

4 medium egg yolks
20g caster sugar
60g cake flour
40g cornstarch
3tbsps caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 425°F/210°C. Grease a 43cm x 30cm jelly roll sheet with butter and line it with parchment paper, set aside. Sift together the cake flour and cornstarch twice then set aside.

In a dry clean bowl, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy and the color turns white. Gradually add the sugar, increase the speed to high and continue to whip until stiff peaks form – the whites should be firm and shiny, about 5 minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy. With a rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the egg mixture until just combined then fold in the rest of the meringue and fold until just incorporated. Add in the sifted flour mix and gently fold until combined.

Fit a piping bag with a 3/8 inch (1cm) round tip, fill it with the cake batter and pipe identical wavy lines touching each other. Using a spoon, drizzle some warm caramel sauce over piped batter.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and transfer to cool on the cooling rack. Once cooled, using a ruler cut out stripes that are slightly shorter than the height of the mousse rings that you’re using. Also, stamp out cake bases using mousse cake moulds. Place the mousse moulds on a tray, roll up a cake stripe, place it inside the mould then put a cake base inside each mould; set aside.

Poire William Mousse

Crème Anglaise
175ml whole milk
8 medium egg yolks
60g caster sugar
8g powered gelatin
40ml water
½tsp vanilla extract

350ml heavy whipping cream
45ml Poire William liqueur

For the crème anglaise:
Sprinkle the powdered gelatin over 40ml of water. Bring the milk to about simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy. Remove from the heat and add a little of the hot milk to the yolk mixture to warm it, whisking constantly to keep the yolks from cooking then pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot milk (pan), whisking constantly as you pour.

Return the mixture to the stove and warm it over medium heat, whisking constantly. Let the custard cook until custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 – 5 minutes then remove from heat. Add in the pre-soaked gelatin, stirring until completely dissolved. Using a fine sieve, strain the custard into a clean bowl then whisk in the vanilla extract, stir to cool.

For the whipped cream:
Beat the heavy cream over medium speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the crème anglaise, fold until just combined. Fold in the liqueur until incorporated. Pour mousse into mousse cake moulds lined with caramel biscuit till full and level with an icing knife, place in fridge to set for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Chantilly Cream – 1½ cups
200ml heavy cream
2tbsp caster sugar

Place the cream and sugar in a bowl and whip until semi-stiff peaks form over medium speed. Chill in the fridge if not noting immediately.

Decorating the cakes:
Using a fine sieve, gently sift cocoa powder (sparingly) over the cakes. Spread a thin layer of nappage (natural glaze diluted 1:10 ratio) using an icing knife – move the knife over the top of the glaze to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance.

Unmold the cakes by wrapping a hot towel around the mould for 10 second then use your fingers to push the cake upward, repeat this process with the rest of the cakes. Pipe some Chantilly cream on top then finish with half of a mini pear and a sprig of parsley.

Tarte au chocolat et caramel (makes four 8cm/3-inch tarts)

Sweet pastry crust
270g all purpose flour
100g unsalted butter, softened
80g caster sugar
2 eggs
40g Dutch-process cocoa powder

Caramel
275g caster sugar
110ml whipping cream
135g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup water
1tsp fleur de sel

Chocolate truffle ganache filling
165g bittersweet chocolate (65 -70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
250ml whipping cream
20g unsalted butter, room temperature
25g caster sugar
25ml rum (Myers)

For the sweet pastry:
Sift together the flour and cocoa powder; set aside. Beat butter, sugar and a pinch of salt using an electric mixer until pale, add eggs and mix. Add cocoa flour, mix until just combined, then turn onto a lightly floured surface and form into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 360°F/180°C. Rollout the pastry as thinly as possible on a lightly floured pastry board. Use an 11cm/4-inch diameter round cookie cutter to stamp out 4 circles and line four 8cm/3-inch pastry rings. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm then trim off excess pastry.

Line each pastry ring with foil, then fill with pie weight/baking beans/uncooked rice. Bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove foil and pie weight, return the pan to the oven for 10 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool.

For the caramel:
Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for 8-10 minutes or until dark-amber in color then remove from heat. Carefully add cream, butter and fleur de sel (mixture will spit) and stir. Return to heat and cook for 3 minutes or until smooth, then spoon into pastry crusts and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set. Pour any left over caramel into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

For the ganache:
Place the finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl then set aside. Combine cream and sugar and bring to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and slowly pour the hot cream to the chopped chocolate, let sit for 2 minutes then use a rubber spatula and stir until smooth. Using a whisk, whisked until chocolate completely melted, add the butter and whisk to mix. Add the rum, and stir until incorporated. Pour ganache into the pastry crusts on top of the caramel and fill it to the top but not overflowing! Let refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until set. Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

As for garnish:

Caramelized almond crisp
1 cup skinless almond, coarsely diced/toasted
2/3 cup sugar

Caramel-glazed hazelnut needles
10 pieces whole hazelnuts, skinless/toasted

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, spread out the diced almond and whole hazelnuts and bake at 320°F/160°C for 10 minutes or until light golden. Remove from oven and let cool.

Line another jelly roll pan with parchment paper; set aside. Put the sugar in a heavy skillet, heat over low heat until sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and medium amber in color, remove from heat; this process can take 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, poke each hazelnut with a toothpick and set aside.

Working at a fast pace; dip 1 hazelnut into the melted sugar, swirl it to completely coated then pull upward and let it drip to form needle. Carefully place it on lined sheet to set; repeat as many times as you need to. Move on to make almond crisp.

Stir in the almonds with a wooden spoon, toss, and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides, meanwhile use the wooden to separate the clusters. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble (**Handle with care – extremely hot mixture**), then spoon onto the parchment lined sheet and make whatever design you fancy. Let cool completely before use.

Star chocolate decoration
135g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Chop the chocolate into tiny pieces and place in a dry heatproof mixing bowl. Temper the chocolate by melting it in the microwave. Need to do it on medium for 4~5 times and at 30 second interval. Stir the chocolate each time the microwave stops until becomes completely melted and smooth. Cool for 1 minute.

Spread the melted chocolate evenly with a spread knife on the back of a jelly pan. When the chocolate became set but not firm, stamp stars using varies size of star shaped cookie cutter then place jelly pan in refrigerator to chill and set. Carefully loosen chocolate stars with a small knife and poke it into tart.

How to dress up the tarts:
First, add a dollop of Chantilly cream onto the tart, poke 1 or 2 pieces of the caramelized almond crisp behind the cream, arrange hazelnut needles and a couple chocolate stars, and sprinkle some mini dragée all over the tart then add some edible gold!

Crème Fraîch Panna Cotta
200 grams heavy cream
45 grams sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
3 grams sheet gelatin
100 grams crème fraîch

In a small saucepan, cook the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla bean until it comes to a boil. In the meantime, soak the gelatin in ice water. When the cream has come to a boil, remove the pan from the heat and add the softened gelatin. Whisk to dissolve it. Pour this into a clean bowl and let it cool to about body temperature. Add the crème fraîch and whisk well.

Pour the panna cotta into your molds or jars and let it set in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Mousse
100 grams strawberry puree
10 grams sugar
2 grams sheet gelatin
75 grams heavy cream, soft peaks

Warm half of the strawberry puree with the sugar. In the meantime, soak the sheet gelatin in ice water. Add the softened gelatin to the warm strawberry puree. Add the rest of the puree and let it cool.

Fold in the whipped cream into the puree base. Pour this mousse on top of the yogurt panna cotta and let it set in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Gelée
150 grams strawberry puree
30 grams sugar
2 gram sheet gelatin

Warm half of the strawberry puree with the sugar. In the meantime, soak the sheet gelatin in ice water. Add the softened gelatin to the warm strawberry puree. Add the rest of the puree and let it cool.

Pour this gelée on top of the strawberry mousse and let it set in the refrigerator.

Baked Meringue Sticks
100 grams egg whites (3.5 ounces or a little under half a cup)
100 grams sugar (1/2 cup)
100 grams powdered sugar, sifted (1 cup)

Whip the egg whites until a light meringue forms (soft peaks). Slowly add in the sugar while mixing. Continue to mix to stiff peaks. Fold in the powdered sugar until incorporated.

Place the meringue in a pastry bag fitted with a plain (round) tip. Pipe straight lines of meringue on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake the meringues in a very low oven, about 200°F/100°C until crispy, about an hour. Keep them in an airtight container to stop them from becoming soggy.

- L’ Atelier Vi

Would that be fun incorporating strawberries into your summer wedding centerpieces? I found this lovely picture from BBC. The designer also offers step-by-step guide for creating this edible arrangement. Have Fun!!

Friday Arrangement by Simon Lycett