June Roundup

What a month! Such amazing desserts with strawberries! Thank you for participating. Absolutely amazing. 

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Posted by - Vivian

I was craving something fresh and fruity when I saw that this month's "Have the Cake" challenge was strawberries. I really want to make it down to the U-pick farm and get some fresh strawberries but they aren't ready yet, so I used store bought strawberries. You know how it is when you buy fruit at the store, the fruit can either be good or blah. I hate when that happens! Luck was on my side and the berries were just fabulous!

The directions call for using mostly whole strawberries and while it worked out, I think next time I will quarter them. This is another one of those recipes that I had stockpiled prior to my blogging days. I have no idea where the recipe came from. I printed this recipe out in early 2000!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 (9-inch) baked pie crust

3 pints strawberries, stems removed and hulled  

3/4 cup sugar (recipe called for one cup but my berries were pretty sweet)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt

Take 2 pints of your prepared strawberries and arrange the berries, stem side down, on your prebaked pie crust; set aside.

In a medium size sauce pan mash the remaining one pint of strawberries; to this add the sugar, water, cornstarch and salt.  Stir over medium heat and allow the mixture to come to a boil; after it is at a boil cook for one minute more.  Remove the pan from the stove and allow the strawberry mash mixture to cool before pouring over the berries in the pie crust.
Refrigerate for three hours to allow the pie to "set".  Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Strawberry Shortbread Meringue Pie

Posted by - Laura @ Laura loves cakes

Hurrah...it's officially the start of summer...British Strawberries have arrived...we might just have to ignore the recent weather though!! What could be better on a warm summer's evening than sitting in the garden with a glass of wine and one of these Strawberry Shortbread Meringue pies.

The recipe for these desserts specified to use shop bought shortbread which I would be more than happy to do but for this blog post I thought I'd add a bit more of a baking element and make the shortbread! The recipe I used is below but I perhaps found it a little crumbly...so you can either try the same recipe or how about this one from Delicious magazine...they also add a hint of Orange.

To make the base for these pies, it's a bit like a cheesecake, crumb up the shortbread and then add melted butter before pressing it into the tin. My only complaint about this recipe was that it was nigh on impossible to get the dessert off the base so in the end I had to resort to leaving on. To get round this problem, the recipe suggested making the baking paper for the base larger than needed. My other thought was to just use a food ring and leave the base as a whole circle of shortbread, baked in the shape for the purpose.

So once the base is chilled, it's just a case of cutting the strawberries in half and putting a circle around the edge. Inside of this goes whipped double cream with a little sugar, mint and crushed strawberrries. Then the finishing touch is to make a gorgeous Italian meringue which can be piped on to make dramatic peaks. The meringue is then browned off under the grill and voila! To make the meringue it does help to have a sugar thermometre but you can do without.

So the finished product is a dreamy desssert of shortbread, cream, strawberries and clouds of gorgeous Italian meringue...who could resist...certainly not me...I'm going to make this again next weekend!! :-)

Icebox Strawberry Pie

Posted by - Denise at Eat Laugh Love 

A few weeks ago while strawberries were still in season in the St. Louis area, we went a bit crazy and picked quite a few pounds. Quite a few, about 45 pounds to be exact. They were just so sweet and tasty, I couldn’t stop. Unlike grocery store berries, which I refuse to buy, homegrown berries are diminutive, fragrant, and much juicer. My fingers and nails had a red hue for a day or two, but that was okay. We froze most of them, and I successfully made and canned delicious, sugar-free strawberry jam. My last jam making experience was a disaster when I attempted it with no pectin, significantly overcooked it, and crystallized the sugar, which resulted in strawberry CONCRETE. Chalk it as an experiment gone awry.

I also made an amazing icebox strawberry pie based on a recipe I saw on the Cooks Country website. It was described as “diner style,” and it sure it. When I was a kid, we went to the local Elby’s Big Boy restaurant for dessert, and they served a pie similar to this. It was my absolute fave, and I always got it. This is even better. It’s so fresh berry-ish. No surprise since it uses three pounds of strawberries, and part of the intense flavor comes from cooking two pounds to thick jam that is mixed with gelatin and more (fresh) berries. The original recipe calls for a pasty crust but I threw together a quick cinnamon graham cracker crust. This easy pie is a snap to make and perfect when you don’t want to be slaving over a hot oven on a hot summer day – the beauty of an icebox pie. I also skipped the whipped cream topping. I wanted the berries to shine. And they do.

The recipe cautions you need to be precise cooking down the berries to measure exactly two cups and no more, otherwise the filling will not set up or slice neatly.

Icebox Strawberry Pie

Serves 8

2 pounds strawberries, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin

1 cup sugar

 Pinch salt

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thin

1 9-inch pie shell, baked and cooled, either pastry or graham cracker crust

Cook berries in large saucepan over medium-low heat until berries begin to release juice, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until thick and jamlike, about 25 minutes. Measure the mixture to no more than two cups. If it’s more than two cups, continue cooking longer.

Combine lemon juice, water, and gelatin in small bowl. Let stand until gelatin is softened and mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir gelatin mixture, sugar, and salt into cooked berry mixture and return to simmer, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Fold fresh berries into filling. Spread evenly in pie shell and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours. Filled pie can be refrigerated for 24 hours.

Print recipe.

Strawberry Tart Tatin

Posted by -Alida @ My Little Italian Kitchen

I tried  tart tatin for the first time during a visit to France. I felt it was one of the most yummy cakes I had ever tried.
My favourite cakes are usually fruit tarts and the French are particularly good at them.

This is just a nice alternative to the classic tart, the crunchiness of the pastry and the sweetness of the caramelized topping makes it an elegant and extremely delicious cake.

Instead of the classic apples I have used strawberries as they are now in season  here in England.
It is simply divine.

Ingredients:

                                                             
For the shortcrust pastry:

• 200 g flour
• 90 g butter
• 60 g water
• a pinch of salt

For the topping:

• 300 g strawberries
• 100 g sugar
• 70 g butter

In a round baking tin put 70 g of butter and 100 g of sugar and caramelize it on a source of heat. It should get a nice dark golden colour. The caramel has to cover all of the base of the baking tin.

Slice the strawberries and lay them onto the caramel without leaving any gaps.

Make the pastry by working with your hands the butter, the flour, the water and the salt.

You should get a nice smooth dough. Now put it in the fridge for 30 minutes wrap it in cling film.

Take it out of the fridge and with a rolling pin flatten it out and cover well the strawberries. Make a couple of small incisions so the steam will be released during cooking.

Cook at 180 C for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is nice and golden.

When cooked leave it to rest for a couple of minutes then turn it upside down with the help of a plate and serve it warm with some cream if you like.

Strawberry Creams...with...

Posted by - Sara@sewappetising
...Vanilla Shortbread...This is a re-working of this recipe that I first tried over the Easter Holiday...the original was very popular, and has been requested again since then, but the Small Ones aren't too keen on Rhubarb, so I decided with it being the start of Strawberry Season I would make it with beautiful fresh strawberries instead...

I kept to the original recipe, just substituted 450g strawberries for the rhubarb...even decided to roast the strawberries in the same way that you roast the rhubarb...the smells coming from the oven were to die for...After roasting them, I strained the juices into a bowl, and then the berries got blitzed with my stick blender,...the puree was the most amazing colour!! Totally natural, no food colouring needed this time! The puree needs to be strained to get rid of the pips...I added a couple of tablespoons of the saved roasting syrup to the puree, stirred and then left it to go cold...Once your puree is cold, you can get on with boiling the cream and 90g caster sugar...simmer for 3 minutes, remove from heat, stir in the juice of 2 lemons and finally the fruit puree...stir, pour into your serving dishes and chill...for a good 4 hours or even overnight if possible...and that's it, Strawberry Creams...I served mine (after some debate and discussions with friends and family) with some Vanilla Shortbread, again using the original recipe from before, but instead of adding the orange zest, I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract in it's place...everything else was done in the exact same way...

So how did it turn out? The flavour was fantastic, but the texture not so...don't get me wrong, it was a gorgeous, smooth, silky, creamy dessert, but it didn't set too well...I have no idea if it was just to do with the fact that the strawberry puree was slightly thinner than the rhubarb, or if other factors were at play? Maybe those 2 extra tablespoons of juice I added were the culprits? Who knows...unless I make it again without them...any way, it was great, but more of a very thick yogurty texture...so I got to thinking, and decided to try something with the remaining one...the Small Ones found it rather rich, so shared one...I decanted it into a tub with a lid and froze it!! I did the whole, freeze for an hour, take out and churn...just like this Mascarpone Ice-Cream I made a while back...and guess what it was amazing!!! What a great strawberry ice-cream...Unfortunately, by the time we had all tried it, it had gone, and no pictures taken!!! Ooops! But take my word, it was really tasty, full of "strawberry-ness" and I'm pretty sure I will have another go at it...both as an ice-cream and as a chilled cream...

Roasted Balsamic Strawberries

Posted by - Anuja @ http://simple-baking.blogspot.in/

Have you ever had a cake with roasted strawberries???or a silky smooth vanilla ice cream with the roasted strawberries tickling your taste buds?? if yes then you know what I m talking about and if not then you don't know what I m talking about (loser with a capital L :D).  Roasted strawberries are highly addictive (beware) and I love the perfect marriage of the tartness of berries and the sweet and fruity flavour of balsamic vinegar.

FIL went to Mahabaleshwar last week and got a box of strawberries for my cucina. This time of the season, the berries tend to be smaller with less sweetness. Perfect to roast them with sugar and balsamic vinegar to boost their flavour.

I didn't bother to halve them as the berries were so tiny, in fact these roasted beauties are perfect as candies to pop them up and your mouth will be filled with an explosion of sweet and tangy goodness.


Roasted Balsamic Strawberries
Adapted from Zoe Bakes
Ingredients:
500 grams of strawberries, cleaned, trimmed and halved
1/8 cup sugar (adjust according to the sweetness of berries)
1 1/2 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar

Method:
Preheat oven to 177 degree Celsius.
In a medium size bowl, toss the berries, sugar and the vinegar together. Spread the strawberries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat. Bake for 25-30 minutes.Reserve the strawberries and syrup that is produced.
Enjoy with your cakes, puddings or ice cream!

Jubilee Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

Posted by - The More Than Occasional Baker

Yes it's another Jubilee bake - I can't help it! My street had a street party today so I got up early to bake these little treats for my neighbours. It's my first street party and I've never seen anything quite like it. There's a lovely community atmosphere. It looks extremely festive with all the bunting and fancy dress. There's food, drinks, games, raffles, prizes... a really fun day! My cupcakes went down a treat and they disappeared within the first 15 minutes!! 

The cupcakes have fresh strawberries in the batter which give them a lovely juicy, moist flavour. It has a strawberry jam centre, finished with a vanilla buttercream and a fresh strawberry slice. I especially liked the Lakeland 'It's British' cupcake set which a colleague bought for me as a gift - thank you J!! :)

I'm sending these to the Tea Time Treats table hosted this month by Kate from What Kate Baked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme for June is summer fruits so I'm sure these strawberries and cream cupcakes count! 

 My Sweet Party hosted by Johanna from Me and My Sweets has also chosen summer fruits as the theme for June so I'm adding them to her party too! 

As these are cupcakes, I'm also sending them to Cupcake Tuesday hosted by Liz from Hoosier Homemade

 Cupcake set from Lakeland - contains 24 cupcake cases and 24 flag toppers. Perfect for the occasion. 

 Adding fresh strawberries to the batter 

 Decided to try out my new cupcake plunger. I couldn't quite get the hang of it so I used a melon baller for most of the cakes. Has anyone else used this before? I followed the instructions but I couldn't seem to get the core of the cake out and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Any advice would be much appreciated :) 

 Fresh cupcakes ready to fill and frost

 Make a hole with a cupcake corer (or melon baller)

 Fill with strawberry jam 

 Replace the cake 

 Pipe frosting on top 

 Add a slice of fresh strawberry on top

I couldn't resist getting out my new cupcake stand which I found in Camden market yesterday. It has strawberry charms which are perfect. I have the exact same stand with cupcake charms but this is so cute and perfect for summer! I'm sure you'll be seeing more of this in the coming months :)

 Big ben 

 London Taxi 

 Soldier

 Red bus 

Which topper is your favourite? 

Strawberries and cream cupcakes - makes 22 of the size shown (I made 1.5 recipes - the recipe below is for 1 recipe ie 22 cupcakes) 

For the cupcakes

225g butter

225g caster sugar

4 eggs
210g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
25g cornflour
180g fresh, ripe strawberries, hulled and chopped

For the filling

Strawberry jam - approximately 1 teaspoon per cupcake

For the vanilla buttercream frosting (enough to frost ~25 cupcakes)

250g butter

500g icing sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons milk

• Preheat the oven to 160C.
• Cream the butter and sugar then beat in the eggs, one by one. 
• Add the flours and baking powder and beat well together. 
• Finally stir in the chopped fresh strawberries. 
• Scoop the cake batter into the cases using an ice cream scoop (or just use a spoon), filling them to about 2/3 full. 
• Bake in the oven for about 20 -25  minutes.
• The cakes will be fairly moist even when cooked. 
• Remove from the oven and leave in their tins for about 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool. 
• Once completely cool, carefully make a small hole in the centre of each cupcake using a cupcake corer or melon baller. 
• Fill the hole with 1 teaspoon of strawberry jam then replace the sponge.
• To make the vanilla buttercream - beat all the ingredients together in an electric mixer until smooth. 
• Pipe the vanilla buttercream on top of the cupcakes.
• Decorate with a slice of fresh strawberry and cupcake toppers. Alternatively, you can use sprinkles.