What I love about desserts is you can take over 48 hours to create something delicious & sometimes you can create something as amazing in 1 hour. And I believe we need both of them in our life. This is one of those delicious desserts that can be made in an hour and it looks beautiful too. A cake shell filled with lemon curd, macerated strawberries and a nutmeg whipped cream. The flavors work so well together. Infact the macerated strawberries give the look that this dessert definitely took longer to make. You can use homemade or store bought lemon curd for this which makes it much easier. I used store bought dessert shells which are basically cake rounds with a well in them. You could use those or I have suggestions in my notes. Definitely a dessert recipe go make for dessert tables or when you’re entertaining since it saves time and looks fancy!
Happy Baking!

Servings: 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 40 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: 

• 6-8 dessert shells. Check tips if you can’t find them

• 1/4-1/3 cup lemon curd

• 12-15 strawberries

• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

• 1 tbsp finely chopped basil

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 1.5 tbsp + 2 tbsp castor sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Directions: 

1. Macerated Strawberries- Chop about 10 strawberries in small pieces. In a bowl add the chopped strawberries, basil, balsamic vinegar and 1.5 tbsp of sugar. Mix it together and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate it for 30-40 mins and toss it mid way.

2. Whipped cream- In a bowl add the heavy cream , 2 tbsp sugar, vanilla essence and 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder . Using an electric or stand mixer whisk it together till it thickens and soft to medium peaks form.

3. Assembly: In the dessert (cake) shells, layer lemon curd. I like to put 1/2-3/4 tbsp in each. Top it with macerated strawberries. Dollop on some whipped cream. Slice a strawberry in half and place the cut side down on the cream. I like to put some the macerated strawberry syrup on the berry on top to give it a shine. Sprinkle some nutmeg powder over the whipped cream.

4. Let it cool for 20-30 mins in the fridge. Take it out 10 mins before serving and enjoy!

Notes/Tips:

• If you can’t find dessert shells, you can use butter cake or pound cake. You can also use any soft vanilla cake. They can be in any shape. Cut the slice a little thick and scoop out a bit from the center to make a well for the lemon curd and strawberries. But literally any soft vanilla cake is fine.

• You could also add raspberries with the strawberries.

• I highly recommend using nutmeg because it has a nutty and subtle spice flavor.

• Let it chill in the fridge for 20-30 mins after assembling so that the flavors come together.

• Do not overwhip the cream.