Strawberries conjure up images of long summer days spent outside in the garden. During my childhood, strawberries grew in our small garden and we devoured them on site – they never got as far as the kitchen table.

Strawberries are a good place to start if you’re interested in growing your own food. They require little maintenance other than watering. With a decent enough summer, fresh garden strawberries can grow until late August.

Two years ago, I grew some Alpine strawberries in my garden to include in my photography book, Food for Life. To my surprise, I was able to grow enough to use some in the restaurant, as well as having enough for use at home.

As with all fruit, you should smell strawberries before buying them. Don’t put your money down if they don’t have that wonderful, unmistakable strawberry scent.

Sable and strawberries with crème anglaise

Ingredients, serves four
2 punnets fresh Irish strawberries, washed and with leaves removed
Crème patisserie
Sable pastry
Crème anglaise
20g icing sugar for dusting
50ml raspberry coulis for garnish

Crème Anglaise
9 egg yolks
130g icing sugar
1/2 litre cream
1/2 litre milk
1vanilla pod

Sable pastry
416g flour
250g butter
166g icing sugar
8g salt
3 yolks
1vanilla pod

Crème patisserie
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
180g icing sugar
150g flour
1vanilla pod
1/2 litre cream
1/2 litre milk
200g butter

Method: crème anglaise
1. Heat the milk and cream with the vanilla pod in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar until smooth.

3. When warm, add the cream/milk mixture, little by little, to the eggs and sugar, stirring constantly.

4. Return to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until the liquid coats the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat, pass through a fine sieve and cool quickly in cold water.

5. Store in a covered container in the fridge until needed.

Method: sable pastry
1. Dice the butter and cream until the mixture is smooth and white.

2. Add the sugar and salt and mix. Then add in the flour and finally, the egg yolks, and combine into a ball.

3. Remove the pastry from the bowl and flatten it out on a tray lined with parchment paper. Cover with film and allow to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

4. When the pastry is ready, roll it out into a 4mm thickness. Rest the pastry.

5. Cut disks with a 5cm diameter round cutter. Rest the pastry.

6. Bake in the oven for 6-7 minutes at 175 C, until golden brown.

Method: crème patisserie
1. Whisk eggs, yolks and sugar in a large stainless steel bowl until smooth.

2. Heat milk, cream and vanilla pod in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

3. When warm, add a little of the milk mix to the eggs, stirring all the while. Add the remainder of the milk mix to the eggs/sugar stirring constantly.

4. Return the liquid to a low heat and cook, stirring constantly (make sure the eggs don’t scramble on the bottom of the pan). The mix is ready when it coats the back the spoon.

5. Mix in the flour, place in an oven dish, cover with parchment and cook at 150 C for 25 minutes.

6. Let the mix cool a little and buzz in the diced butter when still warm.

To serve
1. Place five dots of coulis, (decreasing in size) from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock on the plate. In between these, place five dots of anglaise, again decreasing in size. Draw a cocktail stick through them to make heart shapes.

2. Assemble the dessert by placing one sable disk on the board, and piping crème patisserie from the centre of the pastry out to the edge.

3. Quarter the strawberries from the top of the cone to the base.

4. Place the strawberry quarters (narrow end towards the centre) around the sable to make a flower shape. Put a dot of crème patisserie in the centre and place another pastry disk on top.

6. Repeat the above (crème patisserie and strawberries) for this layer. Place a sable on top, and place a dot of crème patisserie in the middle. Dust half of the pastry with icing sugar, using a knife to help you get a sharp line. Place half a strawberry on top (with the green leaf still intact).

7. Place the sable stack in the centre of the plate, on top of a small dot of crème patisserie.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com

Tags: crème anglaise, dessert, strawberries, summer