Toasted Hay Custard, Strawberries, Meringue, Pimms - A Food Evolution

Words by Paul Welburn

Extracted from Evolve by Paul Welburn (August 2025, HBK, £45). Available to order from A Way With Media

Dinner party dishes that are simultaneously nostalgic and delicious from the kitchen of Paul Welburn.

Toasted Hay Custard, Strawberries, Meringue, Pimms

This summer flavour profile just works. It’s just in time for the strawberry season. The combination of cream and Pimms is a nod to that Wimbledon classic. Here I add the almost biscuit-ey notes from toasted hay to infuse in the custard, with fresh strawberries and sorbet. There’s a Pimms purée, shards of meringue that give a little nod to the classic British pudding of Eton Mess, and aromatic basil to bring the refreshing yet comforting dish together. Vanilla works well with this dish but if you can get hay and heavily toast it in the oven, the nutty flavour is incredible.

SERVES 20

Ingredients:

Hay Infusion & Hay Custard:

200g hay 

2L double cream

500g milk

Toasted Hay Custard:

1.5kg mascarpone cream cheese

30g cornflour

200g sugar

9 whole eggs

500g infused cream

Pimms & Lemon Purée: 

2kg frozen strawberries 

750g strawberry juice, unsweetened

125g lemon juice 

300g sugar

325ml Pimms

16g agar agar

Strawberry sorbet:

1kg strawberry purée

250g water

200g sugar

70g glucose

Strawberry Meringues Shards:

300g caster sugar

150g egg white

Dehydrated strawberry powder

Crumble: 

100g butter

100g caster sugar 

100g plain flour 

To Serve:

Basil cress 

Fresh strawberries, chopped

More of the dried strawberry powder

Toasted Hay Custard, Strawberries, Meringue, Pimms

Method

Hay Infusion & Hay Custard:

In a preheated oven, place the hay into a roasting tray and cook at 180°C for 12-15 minutes or until the hay turns to a deep golden colour. In a pan, bring the milk and cream to a boil and add the toasted hay. Cover then remove from the heat and allow to infuse for several hours. Once infused, pass through a fine sieve. Place the mascarpone, cornflour, sugar, eggs and required weight of infused cream into the Thermomix and cook for 35 minutes at 90°C. Once cooked, remove from the Thermomix and place in a bowl. Cover in cling film to prevent a skin forming and chill. Once chilled, place the mixture back into the Thermomix and on a low speed, blend the mix until smooth. Once smooth, place the custard into piping bags until required and store in the fridge.

Pimms & Lemon Purée: 

Place the frozen strawberries into a large bowl. Cover well with cling film tightly several times. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and allow the strawberries to steam and release the juice in the bowl. Keep checking the water level to avoid it boiling dry. Steam the strawberries for 45 minutes to 1 hour, by this time the fruit will have broken down and released the juice. Carefully remove the bowl (the cling film may have expanded and ballooned) and without burning yourself, cut the cling film and release the steam. Remove the cling film and pass the juice through a sieve. Do not squeeze the pulp. Allow to pass and drain to have a clear juice (the pulp can be used for a crumble). Measure the required juice and place into a pan with the lemon juice, Pimms, sugar and agar agar and bring to the boil. Once boiled, the agar is activated. Pour out into a deep tray and allow to cool and set. Once the jelly is set, place into a liquidiser and blend to a smooth purée. Pass through a fine sieve and place into a squeezy bottle until required.

Strawberry Sorbet: 

In a pan, bring the purée, water, sugar and glucose to the simmer. After, remove and pass through a fine sieve. Allow to cool before churning in a ice cream maker. Once fully churned, remove the sorbet from the machine and place into a container and store in the freezer until required. 

Paul Welburn

Strawberry Meringue Shards

Whisk the meringues in a KitchenAid with a whisk attachment. Once the whites are frothing, gradually add the sugar a little at a time. Once all the sugar is added, continue to whip until its smooth and thick. Remove from the machine and with a palette knife, spread the meringue thinly and evenly onto non-stick Silpat baking mats. Make sure the meringue is even. Sprinkle with the dehydrated strawberry powder and dehydrate in an oven set at 60°C for 6 hours or until fully dried. Once cool, break up the meringue sheets into rough shards and store in an airtight container until required.

Crumble: 

Combine all the ingredients by hand, rubbing between your fingers to form breadcrumb stage. Place onto a non-stick Silpat baking mat and bake in a preheated oven set to 170°C for 20-25 minutes (forking every now and then to cook evenly) or until golden brown. Once golden, remove and allow to cool. Break up the cooled crumble with a fork or pulse quickly in a food processor for a more uniformed crumble.

To Serve:

Pipe the hay custard into a serving bowl. Create a well in the middle with a warm spoon. Mix a little of the Pimms and strawberry gel with some chopped strawberries and spoon into the well to the top. Cover with a little of the crumble and top with a rocher of strawberry sorbet. Garnish with shards of the strawberry meringue and basil cress. Finish with a dusting of dried strawberry powder.

Paul Welburn will be opening an exciting new restaurant venture in Cornwall this autumn. Follow @paulwelburn for updates.