Thyme and lavender mousse with cherries


‘The thyme and lavender in these mousse verrines are both rather strong flavours so you could substitute one of them for vanilla – it’s less adventurous but also less risky if you have lots of people with different tastes coming for dinner. But these really are luxury in a glass and so pretty, few people could resist their creamy charms’


Put 125ml/4½fl oz of the double cream and 1 tbsp of the caster sugar separately into 2 saucepans and bring to a simmer. Add the lavender to one pan and the thyme to the other. Put the gelatine leaf into a bowl and add


enough water to just cover it then leave to soak for 5 minutes. Once softened, squeeze out the excess water. Add half the gelatine leaf to each pan and heat until dissolved. Remove the pans from the heat then transfer the mixes to 2 clean separate glass


bowls. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks then add half to each bowl and mix in. Assemble the verrines by putting the


cream mixes in piping bags fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe a little of one into 8 serving glasses then add some cherry jam on top, followed by the other cream mix. Continue until the cream mixes and jam are used up. Leave to set in the fridge for 1 hour


before topping with a scoop of vanilla sorbet and decorating with a thyme sprig and few lavender flowers to serve.


SERVES 8 (each serving for 100ml/4fl oz)


INGREDIENTS


250ml/9fl oz double cream


2 tbsp caster sugar 1 tsp dried lavender, plus extra flowers to decorate 1 tsp dried thyme, plus extra sprigs to decorate 1 gelatine leaf 2 egg whites 80g/3½oz cherry jam


71


VERRINES The word verrine comes from


verre, the French for glass. Their history is short: invented in Michelin-starred restaurants less than ten years ago, they have become commonplace in their homeland, France. Such is their chic popularity that the LA Times describes verrines as “the hottest trend you’ve never heard of…”


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