Serves 2

Ingredients

4 strawberries, sliced4 strawberries, finely choppedSmall lemon verbena leaves, for garnishing1 packet of puff pastry Icing sugar

For the crème patisserie:250ml milk3 egg yolks45g sugar30g corn flour½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped25g diced cold butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Take half of the pastry and roll out to a thickness of 2mm, using icing sugar instead of flour, and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
3. Place another layer of paper on top of the pastry and cover with another baking tray. This will prevent it puffing up too much. Bake for 15-20mins until golden brown.
4. Remove from the oven and immediately cut 3 rectangles, 6cm wide by 12cm long. It must be hot when you cut the pastry, otherwise it will break and crumble.
5. Now make the crème patisserie. Add the milk and vanilla seeds into a pan and bring to the boil, set aside.
6. Whisk the eggs and sugar vigorously until pale and fluffy, and then add the corn flour and fold in with a spatula. Slowly pour in hot milk whilst whisking. Put the mix back in the pan and cook on a very low heat until very thick, stirring every so often.
7. Remove from the heat and mix into the cold butter. Allow to cool before putting in the fridge, covered with clingfilm, for an hour to set.
8. When set, whip for a minute and transfer to a piping bag.
9. To serve, place one piece of puff pastry on a plate and pipe 2 lines of crème patisserie along it before placing a layer of strawberry slices. Repeat the process in reverse.
10. For the ultimate presentation, place your chopped strawberries in a perfect circle around the dessert. Garnish the dish with a few tiny lemon verbena leaves.

Read more: Barrafina’s barbecued carabineros recipe