Summer recipe: Beurre noisette cake

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We asked top chefs to share their favourite simple summer recipe with us. Today: David Verheul of Hotel de Brett's Kitchen in Auckland

For the beurre noisette:
450g unsalted butter
5Tbl milk powder

Melt the butter in a pot, add milk powder and cook (whisking) on a medium heat until the solids turn golden brown and smell like nuts, pour everything into a bowl resting in an ice bath, chill until firm.

For the cake:
340g beurre noisette
2 whole eggs
14 yolks
320g sugar
100g flour
110g cornflour
15g baking powder
1Tsp salt

Method
Heat oven to 180C. Line a 23cm cake tin. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream noisette and sugar until pale, add eggs and yolks slowly while running. Sift dry ingredients together and add and mix until thoroughly combined. Pour mix into tin, smooth top and bake for 25 mins, turn cake and lower temperature to 150C until done. Cool and dust with icing sugar.

Lemon verbena poached strawberries
500ml water
125g sugar
8 lemon verbena leaves
1/2 vanilla pod
1/2 lemon zest
1 punnet strawberries

Hull and cut in half the strawberries, place into a bowl. Bring water, sugar, verbena, vanilla and zest to boil and simmer for 5 mins. Let cool for 3 mins and then pour over strawberries. Chill.

Popcorn ice cream
3x100g buttered microwave popcorn
1L milk
200ml cream
50g milk powder
200g sugar

Cook popcorn as per packet directions, empty packets into large bowl. Bring milk, cream, milk powder and sugar to the boil, pour on popcorn, cover bowl with clingfilm and let steep for 30mins. Chill base over ice until cold. Churn in ice cream machine as per instructions.