Alpine Strawberries, Lemon Curd & Shortbread

Another great offering from chefs Nick Nairn and Paul Rankin’s TV programme Big Food Trip. This recipe uses all the finest produce and will taste great with our Graham’s dairy products.

Step 1

To make the shortbread, cream the butter and icing sugar in a food processor until light and almost white in colour. Add the flour and blend again until just combined but be careful not to over work or the shortbread will be tough.

Step 2

Remove the shortbread dough from the bowl and bring together on a lightly floured board. Put into a large piece of cling film and shape into a long cylinder that is about 4cm thick, twisting the ends to seal securely. Chill for at least an hour or overnight is best to firm up.

Step 3

Meanwhile, make the lemon curd. Put the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon rind and juice in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Cook gently for about 20 minutes until the mixture thickens and reaches 80°C on a thermometer, stirring regularly with a spatula to ensure it cooks evenly. It should coat the spatula.

Step 4

Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter to prevent further cooking. Leave to cool completely. When the lemon curd is cold, whisk the cream until soft peaks form and then fold into the lemon curd. Cover with cling film and chill until needed.

Step 5

To roll out the shortbread biscuits, working quickly cut 1cm slices off the cylinder shortbread dough and roll each one out gently on a lightly floured board. Stamp out a circle using a 6cm cutter and place on non-stick baking sheets – repeat until you have 16 in total. Chill for another 30 minutes or overnight is fine to allow the biscuits to rest.

Step 6

To cook the shortbread biscuits, preheat the oven to 160°C (300F), Gas mark 3. Put the baking sheets of shortbread biscuits and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through and lightly golden but not at all coloured. Remove from the oven and dust with icing sugar. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Step 7

To make the raspberry puree, blend the raspberries in a food processor with the icing sugar and lemon juice. Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl and set aside until needed.

Step 8

To serve, put a shortbread biscuit on to each serving plate and add a large spoonful of the lemon curd cream. Sprinkle over the alpine strawberries and place another shortbread biscuit on top. Drizzle the raspberry puree around the edges of each plate. Decorate each one with an alpine strawberry flower, if liked and add a light dusting of icing sugar. 

Enjoy!