White Chocolate Popcorn and Strawberry Daiquiri Dessert

This is a sensationally stylish dessert that you can serve either elegantly or as ‘Mess’.

Joanne Procter retells her recipes for a dish for both the discerning diner and student cook.

Ingredients

100g popping corn
1 tbsp olive oil
100g white chocolate
300g strawberries, chopped
30ml white rum
1 tbsp caster sugar
75g pecan nuts
250g mascarpone

Method
Heat the oil in a saucepan, then add the popping corn and put the lid on the pan. Turn
the heat right down and leave the corn to pop. Meanwhile, fill a pan with boiling water,
and melt the chocolate in a large bowl on top of the pan.

When the corn stops popping, that means it’s done, so empty the popcorn into the bowl
of chocolate and stir it all in. Put that to one side to cool, and start the strawberries.

Place the chopped strawberries in a saucepan with the rum, 3 tbsp water and the
caster sugar, and bring to the boil.Once the liquid has reduced to a syrupy consistency,
take off the heat and sieve the strawberries, retaining both the liquid and the
strawberries to use later on. Leave both to cool.

Spread the pecans out on a baking tray and place them under a hot grill for just a
couple of minutes, until they’re lightly toasted. Then crush them however you want–with
a rolling pin in a paper bag, by hand, pestle and mortar….go crazy!

Place most of the nuts into a mixing bowl, but keep a few to sprinkle on top at the end.
Add the mascarpone to the mixing bowl and mix together with the nuts.

Once everything’s cooled, it’s time for the fun bit–assembling the trifle! I’ll tell you how
I did it but if your muse is telling you to go your own way, feel free to rearrange the
layers. Or, if you’re really wild, just mush everything together and serve a ‘Daquiri Mess’.
Place a few bits of popcorn in the bottom of the glass. Next layer, the strawberries.
Then a little bit of nutty mascarpone. Now, a nice sprinkling of crushed pecans and
popcorn, followed by a drizzle of strawberry rum sauce.