Strawberries with rose geranium custard and hazelnut crumbs

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2. For the set custard, place the milk and cream in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil.

3. Add the geranium leaves, remove from the heat and allow to infuse for a few minutes. Strain the cream through a sieve into a jug.

4. Place the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl and whisk to the ribbon stage - this is when a spoonful of the mixture poured back into the bowl sits like a ribbon on the surface.

5. Slowly whisk in the infused cream mixture, return to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 82C/180F.

6. Strain the custard into a bowl sat inside a larger bowl of ice water. Cool for a few minutes to stop the custard cooking.

7. Divide into four serving bowls and set aside in the fridge.

8. For the strawberry jelly, slice one punnet of strawberries in half. Place in a roasting tray with the sparkling wine and sugar. Cover with tin foil and bake for 15-20 minutes.

9. Strain the liquor into a small bowl, reserving the strawberries.

10. Reserve a few spoons of liquor, then measure out 150ml/5fl oz of the remaining liquor.

11. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and add to the liquor. Stir until dissolved and pour into a small square dish to set. Place in the fridge to set for 20-30 minutes.

12. Blend the cooked strawberries to a purée. Push through a fine sieve. Add a tablespoon of the reserved cooking liquor. Place the purée into a squeezy bottle.

13. Juice a small handful of the remaining uncooked strawberries.

14. Reserving five for garnish, quarter the remaining strawberries and place in a vacuum-pack bag with a tablespoon of the juice. Vacuum pack hard and leave at room temperature for 10-20 minutes.

15. For the toasted hazelnuts, toast the hazelnuts in the oven on a baking tray for 5-10 minutes, checking regularly, until they are golden-brown. Allow to cool, roughly crush and set to one side.

16. For the digestive crumbs, mix the flours, oatmeal, salt and baking powder. Rub in the butter. Add the sugar, then the milk to form a biscuit dough.

17. Roll out the dough to roughly 5mm/1/5in thick and bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden-brown. Place on cake rack to cool. In a food processor, blend briefly to achieve a crumb texture.

18. For the spun sugar, melt caster sugar over a gentle heat until dissolved. Continue to cook until the caramel turns golden-brown, remove from the heat immediately and plunge the base of the saucepan in cold water. Leave to cool until slightly thickened.

19. Cover the floor with newspaper, and place a rolling pin on a bench, sticking out over the newspaper. Using a fork drizzle the caramel back and forth quickly over the rolling pin to create fine ‘nest’ of caramel. Once set carefully lift it off the rolling pin and set aside. Repeat to make four nests in total.

20. To serve, cut five of the remaining fresh strawberries into quarters vertically. Remove the serving bowls containing the set custard from the fridge. Layer digestive crumbs and toasted hazelnuts onto the custard.

21. Arrange small pieces of the jelly, compressed and fresh strawberries on top. Squeeze small dots of strawberry purée around.Garnish with wood sorrel leaves and flowers if you have them.

22. At the last minute spoon over the reserved strawberry liquor, or serve separately in a jug. Place the spun sugar nest on the top of each bowl and serve.

30 mins to 1 hour preparation time

1 to 2 hours cooking time

Serves 4