Strawberry Charlotte

Blitz 200 g of the halved strawberries with the lemon juice in a blender until smooth. Pass through a fine-mesh sieve and discard seeds. Reserve 60 ml of the purée for the soaking syrup and the remainder for the mousse.

Whisk the egg yolks with 40 g of the caster sugar in a bowl until pale and thick. Whisk in the cornflour and salt until fully combined.

Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until steaming and just beginning to bubble at the edges. Slowly pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly.

Return the mixture to the saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the custard thickens and holds a line on the back of the spatula, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Bloom the powdered gelatin in 2 tablespoons of cold water for 5 minutes, then stir it into the hot crème pâtissière until fully dissolved.

Press a sheet of cling film directly onto the surface of the custard and leave to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Combine the water, 2 tablespoons of caster sugar, kirsch, and the reserved 60 ml of strawberry purée in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Whip the cold double cream with the remaining 20 g of caster sugar to soft peaks. Fold the remaining strawberry purée into the cooled crème pâtissière until evenly combined, then fold in the whipped cream in three additions until no streaks remain.

Line the base of a 15-18 cm springform tin with a circle of baking parchment. Briefly dip each ladyfinger into the soaking syrup for 2-3 seconds per side — they should be moist but not sodden — and stand them upright around the inside edge of the tin, sugar-side facing out.

Arrange a single layer of soaked ladyfingers across the base of the tin, trimming to fit. Spoon in half the strawberry mousse and spread level. Scatter the sliced strawberries evenly across the mousse.

Cover the strawberries with the remaining mousse and smooth the top with a palette knife. If there are leftover ladyfinger pieces, press them gently into the top layer.

Cover the tin with cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours, or overnight, until fully set.

Release the springform collar and carefully peel away the parchment. Arrange the remaining halved fresh strawberries decoratively over the top. Tie a ribbon around the charlotte if desired, and serve chilled.