Balsamic strawberries with rocket (pictured above)
Prep 15 min
Serves 4450g strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
Salt and black pepper
80g-100g rocket leaves
2 tbsp olive oil, or more to tasteToss the strawberries with the vinegar and some pepper in a large salad bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes.Add the rocket, sprinkle with some salt to taste, and toss again. Drizzle with the oil and toss gently one more time. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Drizzle with more oil, if you like, and serve.
From How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (HMH)
Baked alaska with strawberry juice
Prep 1 hr
Freeze 1 hr +
Cook 1 hr
Serves 6
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
30g golden syrup
400ml tin dulce de leche (milk caramel)
2 eggs, separated
100g self-raising flour
6 scoops vanilla ice-cream, frozen hard
For the Italian meringue
225g caster sugar
150ml water
90g egg whites
For the strawberry juice
300g strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered if large
75ml strawberry liqueur (or other fruity liqueur, or rum)
15g caster sugar
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4, lightly grease a 30cm lipped baking tray and line with baking paper. Cream the butter, syrup and dulce de leche in a bowl using an electric mixer, or a wooden spoon, until lighter in colour – about five minutes. Whisk the eggs, add to the batter, and mix together for another two minutes, until smooth.
Sift in the flour, mix, then spread on the prepared baking tray to 1cm thick. Bake for eight to 10 minutes, cool on a wire rack, cut out six 10cm discs, and set aside.
For the meringue, put the sugar in a small pan on a low heat and gently pour over the water, making sure no sugar comes up the sides of the pan. Put the egg whites in a mixing bowl and, using an electric hand mixer, whisk on slow speed. Once the sugar has reached 116C, speed up whisking the eggs to create soft peaks. When the sugar reaches 121C, pour it slowly into the egg whites, whisking on high speed, until the mix has cooled to room temperature, then put into a piping bag with a plain 10mm nozzle.
Put the sponge discs on the baking sheet, add a scoop of ice-cream to each, pipe meringue to cover, then freeze for at least an hour, or overnight.
Set the strawberries, liqueur and sugar in a metal bowl covered with clingfilm over a pan of simmering water, so the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Simmer for 30 minutes, cool a little, strain and discard the pulp, then chill in the fridge.
To cook the meringue, heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas 6, then bake on the bottom shelf for three minutes, until browned.
Transfer each to a bowl and pour the strawberry juice around it.
From Duck & Waffle by Daniel Doherty (Mitchell Beazley)
Creamy strawberry and rhubarb soup
Prep 15 min
Cook 50 min
Cool 30 min
Serves 8-10
2 large stalks of rhubarb, peeled and roughly chopped
2 litres water
7 or 8 cloves
½ vanilla pod
1kg strawberries
4 tbsp caster sugar
300ml single cream
50g cooked pasta shapes per person
Put the rhubarb into a large pan with the water, cloves and vanilla pod, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes, until the rhubarb is soft.
Meanwhile, mash the strawberries and sugar in a bowl . Add to the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 20 minutes.
Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes, then mix in the cream. Put the cooked pasta in the bottom of each bowl and pour over the soup.
From Polska: New Polish Cooking by Zuza Zak (Quadrille)
Strawberry bake
Prep 30 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Serves 6–8
180g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
180g golden caster sugar
180g self-raising flour
180g ground almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
450g strawberries, hulled and sliced
Icing sugar, for dusting
Clotted cream, to serve
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Grease and line the base of a 23cm round loose-bottomed cake tin with baking paper.
Whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, almonds, cinnamon, egg and egg yolk, until well combined.
Tip half the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the surface. Arrange the strawberries on top, then pour over the remaining mixture. Spread the surface smooth and bake for 60-70 minutes, until slightly risen and a rich golden brown. Check after 40 minutes – cover with foil if browning too quickly.
Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes on a wire rack, then take out of the tin and dust with icing sugar. Serve warm with clotted cream.
From The Hidden Hut by Simon Stallard (Harper Collins)
Strawberries with lavender and honey
Prep 5 min
Rest 2 hr
Serves 4
500g strawberries
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp clear honey
20 tender young lavender leaves, roughly chopped
4 lavender flowerheads, to finish
Hull the strawberries, then halve and put in a medium bowl with the lemon juice.
Add the honey, then the lavender leaves, and stir very gently. Cover and put in a cool place to macerate for a couple of hours.
When ready to serve, spoon the strawberries on to plates or into wide-necked wine glasses and serve topped with a lavender flowerhead.
From A-Z: Our Favourite Ingredients and How to Cook Them by River Cottage (Bloomsbury)
Strawberry tartlets
Prep 30 min
Chill 1 hr
Cook 12 min
Makes 16
140g plain flour, plus more for dusting
35g wholewheat flour
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 pinch ground cloves
115g unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp light brown sugar
5 tbsp caster sugar
3½ tbsp honey
340g strawberries, thinly sliced
1½ tbsp lemon juice
280g ricotta
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
In a bowl, whisk both flours with the cinnamon, salt and cloves. In a separate bowl, beat the butter, light brown sugar and two tablespoons of the caster sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy – about a minute. Beat in the honey – about 30 seconds – then scrape the sides of the bowl and beat in the flour mixture at low speed, until just incorporated.
Pat the dough into a disk, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until firm – about an hour.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to 3mm thick. Using a 9cm cookie cutter, stamp out your bases – reroll the scraps if necessary. Transfer to the baking sheets and bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through, until light golden around the edges. Cool for five minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, toss the strawberries with the remaining sugar and the lemon juice, then set aside until syrupy – about 20 minutes. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, icing sugar and zest.
To assemble, spread about a tablespoon of the ricotta mix on each base, arrange the strawberries on the ricotta, drizzle with the syrup and serve.
Recipe by Deb Perelman, smittenkitchen.com
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