Summary

Makes: 6-8 portions

Time: 25 minutes (plus freezing time)

Ingredients

1 egg

1 egg yolk

100 g (½ cup)* caster (superfine) sugar

4 tbsp elderflower cordial

300 ml (1¼ cups) whipping cream

*Strictly, ½ cup less about 1½ tablespoons! For best results I recommend sticking with British units for this recipe.

Marinated strawberries

700 g   (2 pints) strawberries

2 tbsp  caster (superfine) sugar

1 lime

120 ml (½ cup) water

120 ml (½ cup) dry white wine

Sprig of lemon balm

Method

1. Prepare a bowl of icy water.

2. Bring a saucepan of water to a gentle simmer. Whisk the egg, egg yolk and caster sugar in a bowl over the water until the mixture is nice and creamy (about 2 minutes using an electric whisk).

3. Stand the bowl in the icy water and continue whisking until the mixture is cold (about 3 minutes using an electric whisk).

4. Stir in the elderflower cordial.

5. Whisk the cream until it is fairly stiff and then fold in the elderflower mixture. Transfer mixture to suitable contains lined with clingfilm. Freeze for at least 3 hours.

6. Slice the strawberries and place them in a bowl. Keep any badly shaped off-cuts to add to the marinade.

7. Place the caster sugar, juice of one lime (keep the zest for garnish), water, wine and lemon balm in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the strawberry off-cuts and leave the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes. Leave until cold and then pour through a sieve over the strawberries. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

8. When ready to serve, slice the parfait and place a couple of thin slices on each plate. Using a slotted spoon, scatter the strawberry slices round the parfait. Garnish with lemon balm leaves, lime zest and, if available, a few elderflowers.

Tips

– Allow the strawberries to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

– Line the parfait container(s) with cling film (food wrap). Although this is a surprisingly tricky task it makes serving the parfait much easier.

– If you haven't got any lemon balm, omit it from the marinating liquid and use some mint as a garnish instead.

– Although the marinade might not appear to be sweet enough, don't be tempted to add more sugar!

This recipe was originally published on food writer John Duxbury’s Swedish Food website.