Verrines Rose Fraise

In keeping with where this recipe came from, Laduree, this variation retains its French name.  Fraises for strawberries, verrines for glasses, rose is still rose.

Mr. Meow got a Canon 60D and some sort of macro/zoom lens,
so I let him play around using my verrines

I am quite happy that I got a "hotel white" tablecloth.  It also actually fits
my table!  It certainly makes a huge difference when staging and photographing
food for the blog!

Remember that Chocolate Mousse Fraisier?  It became a fraisier because Meow was craving strawberries.  Well, Meow had a lot of strawberries left from that and was hoarding strawberries because she secretly wants to make this verrines probably the first time she laid eyes on the picture

From Laduree Sucre

Since today is the first day of summer vacation (yes, I'm a grown ass adult who has been out of school for 7 years now, still enjoys and has legitimate summer vacation.  Yay, teaching!), I have all the time in the world to finally try this recipe out.  Don't worry, I have my pawning channels ready.  I will be bringing it to a friend's home tomorrow for BBQ.

Originally, this was done with raspberries, but Meow had tons of strawberries frozen and not in her fridge.  She has also seen it done at the local fancy pastry shop, Duchess, did it with strawberries.  Though I'm not sure if the bavarian cream was rose flavoured, I think it was also strawberry flavoured because I remembered the flavoured being monotonous.  But of course, feel free to change the berries around to whatever suits your fancy.  Meow would do blackcurrants if there were any fresh ones in this country.

At Duchess Bake Shop
Strawberry version

Black teacup: Paragon bone china
Light blue teacup: Aynsley bone china

Verrines Rose Fraise
Adapted from Laduree Sucre

Ladyfingers (Biscuits a la Cuillère)

25 g all-purpose flour
25 g potato starch
3 eggs
35 g granulated sugar
35 g granulated sugar (yes, twice)
20 g icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder

This recipe will give you more than enough for the verrines

Rose Bavarian Cream

7 g powdered gelatin
3 egg yolks
30 g granulated sugar
250 mL whole milk
45 mL rose water
60 mL rose syrup (Monin ready-made barista syrup)
350 mL heavy cream, very cold

Jellied Strawberry Coulis

7 g powdered gelatin
750 g strawberries
70 g granulated sugar
30 mL lemon juice
45 mL water

8 strawberries for assembly
4 strawberries for decoration

Yield: 8 verrines, 6 oz each, 7 cm high


LADYFINGERS
1. Sift together the flour, potato starch, and baking powder

2. Separate the egg whites and yolks.  Whites go into a clean, grease free bowl to be whipped later.

3. Whisk the yolks and 35 g of sugar until pale

4. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, then add 35 g of sugar and whip until firm

5. Fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites and sprinkle the flour mixtures

No lumps please

6. Fold gently until smooth and combined

7. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip

8. Pipe onto parchment in the shape of disks that are about 1 cm smaller than the diameter of the verrines, pipe 16 disks.  Pipe leftover batter as regular ladyfinger biscuits at 6 x 2 cm in size

Tap those nipples down with a damp finger
They will assemble better if flat

9. Dust the piped batter with half of the icing sugar

10. Bake in preheated oven at 340F for 15 minutes until lightly coloured

11. Dust with icing sugar again after baking

12. Remove from parchment while still warm; allow to rest for 10 minutes

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ROSE BAVARIAN CREAM
1. Sprinkle gelatin over about 2 tablespoons of water and let bloom

2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale

3. In a saucepan, combine milk, rose water, and rose syrup and bring to simmer

4. Pour a third of this milk mixture into the yolk mixture and stir to combine

5. Pour the tempered custard into the milk mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coat the back of a spoon.  Do not allow to boil

6. Once consistency has reached, remove from heat and stir in the gelatin until smooth

7. Allow to cool completely before folding with the whipped cream, otherwise, it would melt

8. Once cooled, whip the heavy cream to firm peaks

9. Pour the cooled custard over the whipped cream and fold to combine

10. Store in fridge until use and transfer to piping bag fitted with plain tip just before using

Don't forget to enjoy a cuppa in between

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JELLIED STRAWBERRY COULIS
1. Sprinkle gelatin over about 2 tablespoons of water and let bloom

2. Cut up the strawberries and remove the green tops

3. Place into a food processor along with the sugar and process until smooth

4. Stir in lemon juice and water

5. Strain the puree thought a mesh sieve into a pot or large cup that is easy to pour

I fucking hate straining purees

6. Take about 1/4 of the puree and heat until lukewarm

7. Stir in the gelatin until smooth

8. Re-combine the two purees and stir well

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ASSEMBLY
1. Pour a layer of coulis into the bottom of the verrines.  You can use a kitchen digital scale to ensure even division

2. Place in freezer to set for about 10-20 minutes

3. Place a ladyfinger disk in the verrines and lightly drizzle about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of rose syrup to soak it

Drizzling in the rose syrup

4. Place a strawberry half in the verrines.  You may want to dice the strawberries if you want it to sit better

5. Pipe a layer of bavarian cream over top the ladyfinger and strawberry.  Rap the verrines on the counter to even out the top

6. Place in freezer to set for about 10-20 minutes

7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 for a second jelly-cream layer

8. Pour a thin layer of jelly coulis on top to seal

Bottle of Monin ready-made barista syrup (rose) in the back

9. Place in freezer to set for another 10-20 minutes

10. Garnish with strawberries and rose petals, or whatever suits your fancy

Meow's verrine proportion for each layer
Jelly - 7 g
Bavarian cream - 9 g
Strawberries - 1/4
Rose syrup - 1/2 tsp
Top jelly layer - 5 g

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I highly recommend the following when assembling the verrines:

Messed up lines have its charm, but so does clean lines

• pipe the ladyfingers sufficiently small - not just a hair smaller, but small enough that when the bavarina cream gets put on top, it will be covered from side view
• make sure the ladyfingers are flat top - the Hershey's Kiss tops will not allow your strawberries to sit nicely and will roll to the side, again, wrecking the side profile
• wait until the jelly is set - so when you put the ladyfingers and strawberries in, the jelly would not get pushed up ruining the layer lines
• definitely pipe the bavarian cream - so that you can get into the nooks and crannies of the biscuits and berries, and also have a smooth top for next layers.  It also keeps the sides of the verrines clean, no flings and splots
• keep the bavarian cream cool but not cold so that it sets - a liquidy bavarian cream will help give you the flat top for better profile lines.  But make sure it's not too warm because then the whipped cream would have melted and you will have no fluffy mousse layer
• Use a skewer to help move things around in the verrines - your fat fingers ain't gonna fit
• Wipe the verrines clean if you do muck it up, you want clean lines for aesthetics

Damn!  Does it ever look good with my "new to me" bone china cups!!
Green and black tea cups: Paragon Bone China

Tea party ready!

Meow did not have 6 oz glasses that is suitable for this purpose.  I also wanted small portions of desserts, not a "skillet pan of brownie" sized dessert.  As a result, this recipe gave me 14, 2 oz verrines and still with more bavarian cream leftover.  Thank god I piped extra ladyfingers!

I am not liking the cloudiness of the jellied coulis.  Not sure if it's because of the seeds or the gelatin, or it is just the way it is.  I am also contemplating how it would look if it used boxed Jell-O instead.  That would certainly take out the straining of the puree portion that I hate so much.  Also, it would set better.  I find these to be just sticky enough to hold together and not Jell-O Jigglers stiff.  I would also probably incorporate the berries into the jellied coulis (finely diced, of course) to help with the cleanliness of the lines.  But definitely will be increasing the gelatin amount.  I can always warm it over the stove if it decides to set in the pot during assembly.

Needs better lighting, stupid backlight
Blue tea cup: Aynsley Bone China
Rose tea cup: Royal Albert "Old English Rose"

Mr. Meow says the rose flavours were quite predominant.  My theory is that it could be due to the rose syrup that was drizzled onto the ladyfingers.  That was the only variable.  Otherwise, it could just be the proportions of bavarian cream and jelly being mismatched.  I found mine to be quite pleasant, though the strawberry flavours were a bit subdued.  This really is meant for raspberries which has a bit more punch to the flavour.

We had the ones that were in the tall glasses the next day and it seems that the flavours in this container were way more balanced than yesterday's square cups.  It could also be the flavours developed a bit.  Meow is learning that some desserts need to sit for a day or two in order for the flavours to develop and mature.

Mr. Meow also suggested that for clean lines, I could use juice and gelatine (and of course upping the gelatine amount) instead of puree; Laduree probably doesn't give the full, accurate recipe to what happens in their kitchen, but the first time is just to get a feel of what is happening.  He also suggests, and this has to be done in a bigger cup, that I can slice the strawberries and push them up against the sides like in a fraisier, that would also be stunning.  The portion size is good though.

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