Fraises Des Bois Royales Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the strawberries and sugar in a bowl and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Mash using a potato masher or a fork into a chunky puree. Add the vanilla bean pod and seeds and the lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Discard the vanilla bean before serving.
• Put 4 champagne flutes in the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. Remove the flutes from the freezer and put a tablespoon or two of the strawberry puree and the liquid into each flute. Fill the glasses to the top with champagne.

Steps:

• First make your pastry. Place the flour and sugar in a food processor and whizz for thirty seconds. Turn the processor back on and add the chilled butter and finally the egg. If the pastry needs a little more liquid add a spot of water until the dough rolls cleanly round the bowl. Wrap your pastry in Clingfilm and chill for half an hour whilst you prepare the tartlet tins and strawberries.
• Taste one of your strawberries to judge their sweetness. If they are sweet and luscious, as fraises des bois generally are, they will only need hulling, rinsing and a final dressing with the sugar syrup. If they're a little too tart, rinse them, lay them on a plate and sprinkle with caster sugar to give them a bit of a boost.
• Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Butter your barquette or round tart tins, take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out. Line each tin and prick the bottoms well. Bake in the oven for about fifteen to twenty minutes, but keep an eye on them, they may need pricking again. Leave to cool.
• Make a simple sugar syrup by boiling two tablespoons of caster sugar with the water for two minutes or so. Allow to cool. Mix the icing sugar & vanilla essence with the crème fraiche and chill.
• When you are ready to serve your barquettes/tarts, spread them with crème fraiche mixture; sit the strawberries on top and brush with the glaze.

Steps:

• Stir together liqueur and grenadine and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 hour.
• Just before serving, divide grenadine mixture among 6 Champagne flutes, then slowly top off with Champagne. Stir gently.