Compressed Native Strawberries, Beet, Cacao Fruit, Elderflower, and Violets

METHOD:

For the Kaffir Lime Leaf Meringue:
Infuse the hot water with the lime leaves for 30 minutes. Put the infusion in a pot and bring it to a boil. Transfer 500 grams of the infusion to a Vita-Prep blender and, with the machine running on low, add the Methocel; blend on high for 1 minute; place in an ice bath and cool to 38°F.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add the sugar, salt, and acid. Use a mixer with the whisk attachment to whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Spread out onto 2 acetate-lined dehydrator trays and place in the dehydrator for 24 hours. Remove and store in a plastic zipper bag.

For the Strawberry Glass:
Blend the strawberry pulp and sugar in the Vita-Prep blender until smooth. Spread on acetate sheets and place in the dehydrator for 24 hours, until crisp.

For the Fraise de Bois-White Chocolate Sphere:
Puree the fraises des bois, strawberries, and sugar until smooth and strain through a chinois. Pour into spherical molds and freeze.

Combine the white chocolate and cocoa butter thoroughly and strain through a chinois. Unmold the frozen strawberry sphere from the mold; prick the sphere with the tip of a pin to dip it into the white chocolate. Store in the refrigerator.

For the Cacao Fruit Sorbet:
Mix the pectin with 100 grams of the sugar. Put the water in a medium pot and whisk in the pectin mixture; bring to a boil while whisking constantly and continue to boil for 1 minute. Add the remaining sugar, glucose, and dextrose, and whisk until dissolved. Pour the syrup into an ice bath, and chill completely. Combine the syrup and cacao fruit pulp with a hand blender, and season with citric acid. Freeze in an ice cream machine.

For the Elderflower Meringue:
Put the water, elderflower syrup, Versawhip, and xanthan gum in the Vita-Prep blender and blend on high speed for 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add the sugar.
Use a mixer with the whisk attachment to whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Store in air-tight quart containers.

For the Compressed Native Strawberries:
Put the strawberries and juice in a shallow container. Set the entire container in a vacuum-sealed chamber and pressurize completely.

For the Beet Genoise:
Preheat the oven to 320°F. Use a mixer with the whisk attachment to whip the eggs, sugar, and salt until the mixture is at full volume; fold in the beet puree; carefully sift the cake flour into the mixture while gently folding until all of the flour is absorbed. Scale to 682 grams per ½ sheet pan and bake.

For the Violet Sauce:
In a Vita-Prep blender, puree the water and flowers until smooth and well-blended. Put the violet water, agar, sugar, glucose, and salt together in a pot and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Pour the mixture into an ice bath and chill thoroughly. Transfer to the Vita-Prep and blend on high until smooth.

To Assemble and Serve:
The fraise de bois center of the white chocolate spheres should be liquid (not still frozen) for service. Arrange all the elements of the dish on the plate as you like; garnish with candied violets, freeze-dried strawberries, borage, and hyssop.