Strawberry salad in syrup with a cardamom custard |

Preparation time: 20 min

• Set up

  Wash and remove the stems from the strawberries then slice them. Separate the white from the egg yolks (clarify).

  Bring to a boil equal amounts of sugar and water, then stop cooking, let the syrup cool (25° Baume) in the refrigerator or on ice.

  Zest the lemons and squeeze the juice.

• Custard

  In a saucepan, mix the milk, the cream, the vanilla and the crushed cardamom then bring to boil.

  In a bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture becomes creamy and has a lighter color. Stir the hot milk gradually into your egg mixture while continuously whisking. Put this new mixture in a clean sauce pot then cook it slowly at medium heat mixing constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture easily coats the back of the spoon. Strain the custard in a fine mesh sieve then cool it down on an ice bath.

• Strawberries salad

  In a bowl gather the strawberries slices, the syrup, the zest and lemon juice. Let sit 30 minutes in the fridge (infusion), adjust the amount of syrup if necessary.

• Plating

  Serve the strawberry salad in a cold bowl or a small wine glass, topped with the custard sauce. Make sure everything is served chilled. You can decorate with a mint leaf and some lemon zest.