Ingredients for 4 people:200 g sponge cake 200 g strawberries1 jar La Fragolina For the Italian Chantilly cream: 250 g milk3 egg yolks 75 g cornflour75 g brown sugar½ vanilla pod 1 piece of peel from an untreated lemon180 ml fresh whipping cream 20 g icing sugar flaked almonds
First prepare the pastry cream: heat the milk with the vanilla pod, cut open lengthwise, and the piece of lemon peel. In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, beat the egg yolks with the sugar, add the sieved cornflour and, gradually, pour in the milk while stirring continuously. Put the saucepan on the stove and – whisking all the time – cook until the pastry cream begins to thicken; then turn off the heat, cover with cling film in contact with the surface, and leave to cool.
Carefully wash the strawberries, pat them dry, remove the green stalks and cut them into thin slices.
In a bowl, whip the cream until stiff and delicately mix it with the icing sugar; then add the cold pastry cream (after removing the vanilla pod and lemon peel) and fold it in until you have a smooth, homogenous mixture.
Cut the sponge cake into cubes and distribute them in the bottom of the bowls (or glasses), drizzle La Fragolina over them (if you prefer, and no children will be eating it, you can use Vin Santo) and then cover with the Chantilly cream and a few slices of strawberry. Repeat the process, finishing off with strawberries and a “pinch” of flaked almonds. Put the bowls in the fridge and leave them there for at least a couple of hours before serving.