Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 65 mins
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- Choux pastry:
- ½ cup water
- 4 tbsp (60g) butter, diced
- ¾ cup plain flour, sifted
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- To garnish:
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- To fill:
- 2 cups cream, chilled
- 1 cup Lemon Curd (see below)
- 24 strawberries, sliced
- To dust:
- icing sugar
Method
- Preheat oven to 200˚C (it is important to use the fanbake function). Mark a 22cm circle on a piece of baking paper and then draw a 18cm circle inside it to create a donut shape. An easy way to do this is to draw around two plates. Place the paper upside down on a baking tray (this stops the marks from transferring to your food).
- To make the choux pastry, place the water and butter in a medium pot and heat to a rolling boil. Once the butter is fully melted, add the flour all at once and beat over the heat with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan and starts to crust a little on the base of the pan – about 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and transfer the batter to a cake mixer or large mixing bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and beat for 20 seconds before beating in eggs one at a time. The mixture should be thick enough to drop from a spoon in clumps, rather than falling freely.
- Spread the batter between the lines on your baking paper, spreading to form a ring. Run a fork over the mixture (the puff will split while cooking and this encourages it to split along the top rather than at the sides), then sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake at 200˚C for 12 minutes then reduce the heat to 180˚C and cook for a further 15-20 minutes until the puff is golden and feels firm when tapped. Turn off the oven, but leave the puff inside for another 15 minutes.
- Remove the puff from the oven and transfer to a rack. When it has cooled a little, split horizontally using a serrated knife.
- Assemble the puff about 30 minutes before serving. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks then loosely fold in the Lemon Curd. Spread the lemon cream mixture over the base of the cooled ring and scatter with sliced strawberries. Replace the lid and dust liberally with sifted icing sugar. Serve in wedges.