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Posts Tagged ‘strawberries’

Strawberry Muffins

Posted in Breakfast, Muffins, Scones, and other Pastries, tagged , , on August 10, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I love weekend mornings. This past Saturday, Julia and I were at the farmers’ market bright and early. There are a few different farmers’ markets in our area, and this time we went to the one in our local downtown. It’s small as far as farmers’ markets go, usually with only one or two vendors selling each type of fruit or vegetable.

We bought some strawberries that were perfectly ripe and sweet. They needed to be eaten quickly though, because they were so ripe they only lasted a few days. We probably could have finished them by snacking alone, but as I was drinking my coffee Sunday morning I got the urge to bake some muffins.

The batter for these muffins smells amazing. Once I smelled the batter, I couldn’t wait to taste the muffins. They are sweet and a little bit reminiscent of strawberry shortcake. Perfect with a cup of coffee, these strawberry muffins are a sweet little breakfast treat.

One year ago:  Banana Cinnamon Muffins and Blueberry Scones

Strawberry Muffins

Printable Recipe

Makes about 20 muffins

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups plus 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. almond extract
  • 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • Generous 1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries (approximately 8 oz. by weight, after hulling)
  • Sugar, for sprinkling tops (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray or line with paper liners.
  2. Mix 3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
  3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts.
  5. Beat in half of the dry ingredients, followed by a third of the yogurt. Add the remaining dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the yogurt, until incorporated.
  6. Toss the strawberries with the remaining 1 tbsp. flour. Gently fold the strawberries into the batter. (The batter will be very thick.)
  7. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each almost to the top. Sprinkle the tops lightly with sugar, if using.
  8. Bake for 8 minutes and then decrease the oven temperature to 375 and bake for about 12 more minutes, until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The muffins are best eaten the day they are made, but are also good on the second day. They freeze well.

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

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Fresh Strawberry Pie

Posted in Desserts, Pies, Tarts, Crisps, and Crumbles, tagged , , on June 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

This is the perfect summer pie. Fresh, ripe strawberries are so good on their own, but making them into a pie is a wonderful way to highlight those strawberries. For this pie, you really need to use perfectly ripe strawberries to get the best flavor. I used organic strawberries that I bought at the farmer’s market, and I recommend you do the same if at all possible.

While most fruit pies call for baking the fruit in the pie shell, strawberries don’t bake up all that well so we keep them fresh and unbaked in this pie. Instead, a few strawberries are pureed and cooked on the stove with some sugar and gelatin to make a sweet glaze. The glaze is gently tossed with the rest of the fresh strawberries to create a sweet, fresh strawberry filling. I put the filling into my favorite homemade pie crust (which I blind baked first), and served generous slices of pie with some freshly whipped cream.

This fresh strawberry pie is a dessert that is on the lighter side, but so completely satisfying. I just know it’s going to make many more appearances on my table this summer, and in the summers to come.

One year ago:  Pasta Shells with Sausage and Roasted Peppers

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Printable Recipe

Makes about 8 servings

Ingredients:

For the filling:

  • 4 pints (about 3 lbs.) fresh strawberries, gently rinsed and dried, hulled*
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Sure-Jell for low-sugar recipes**
  • Generous pinch of table salt
  • 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 baked 9-inch pie shell***

For the whipped cream:

  • 1 cup cold heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

  1. To make the filling, select 6 oz. of the most unattractive berries, halving those that are large; you should have about 1 1/2 cups. In a food processor, puree the berries until smooth. You should have about 3/4 cup puree. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, Sure-Jell, and salt; whisk to combine. Stir in the berry puree. Cook the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, and bring to a full boil. Boil for 2 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan constantly. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the lemon juice. Let cool to room temperature.
  2. Meanwhile, pick over the remaining berries and measure out 2 pounds of the most attractive ones; halve only extra-large berries. Add the strawberries to the bowl with the glaze and fold gently with a spatula until the berries are evenly coated. Scoop the berries into the baked pie shell, piling into a mound. If any cut sides face up on the top, turn them face down. Refrigerate the pie until chilled, about 2 hours. Serve within 5 hours of chilling.
  3. Make the whipped cream just before serving. Whip the cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed and continue beating until medium peaks form; mix in the sugar until combined. Cut the pie into wedges and serve with whipped cream.

*This is more berries than you will actually need for the pie, to account for any imperfect strawberries.

**Be sure to use Sure-Jell for low- or no-sugar recipes (pink box) and not regular Sure-Jell (yellow box), or the glaze will not set properly. Look for Sure-Jell either in the baking section, canning section, or Jello section of your grocery store.

***To pre-bake the pie crust, roll the pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough. Crimp the edges. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and adjust an oven rack to low-middle position. Line the chilled pie shell with foil so that it lays over the edges of the dough. Fill with pie weights and bake until the surface of the dough no longer looks wet, 20-25 minutes. Remove the pie weights and foil and return the crust to the oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 10-12 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Source: Cook’s Illustrated via Annie’s Eats.

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Strawberry Sauce

Posted in Sauces, tagged on February 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

On Tuesday I posted the recipe for this New York Cheesecake, and promised to share this strawberry sauce with you as well. The cheesecake was so good it could almost stand alone, but this sauce brought the dessert to a whole new level.

After serving this strawberry sauce with the cheesecake, I still had quite a bit of sauce left. You could certainly halve the recipe, but if you make the full recipe there are plenty of good ways to use this sauce. It would be delicious on top of some vanilla ice cream, or maybe on a slice of chocolate cake or pound cake. Drizzled over waffles or pancakes? Yum. You could even use it to sweeten Greek yogurt or your morning oatmeal.

The recipe below allows you to add as much or as little sugar as you want, to adjust the sweetness level to your liking. When I made it I used somewhere between the 1/8 and 1/4 cup of sugar listed, and my sauce was both a little sweet and a little tart.

One year ago:  Valentine Sugar Cookies

Strawberry Sauce

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz. bag frozen strawberries, thawed
  • 1/8-1/4 cup sugar, to taste
  • 2 tsp. cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

  1. Place strawberries in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer strawberry puree to a medium saucepan. Add sugar and cornstarch (you can start with less sugar and add more later if needed). Heat over medium-low heat, and bring to a low boil. Stirring constantly, cook for about 8 minutes. Add more sugar if needed to bring sauce to the sweetness you prefer.
  2. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Chill until ready to serve.

Kristine’s Kitchen original recipe

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Creamy Strawberry Ice Cream

Posted in Desserts, Ice Creams, Sorbets, and Frozen Yogurts, tagged , , on June 26, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Creamy Strawberry Ice Cream

Summer is here and so is my enthusiasm for making homemade ice cream! With so many flavor possibilities, I have a hard time deciding which to try next. Back and forth I go in my mind- should I make something chocolatey? fruity? vanilla based with lots of mix-ins? what mix-ins should I use?

Do you see my problem? Ok, so this is really not a terrible problem to have. I can always make another batch soon.  :)

This week, after much deliberating, I decided to take advantage of summer’s fresh strawberries and make this strawberry ice cream. This recipe is a little different from your typical strawberry ice cream in that it has sour cream in it. My first reaction was to skip over this recipe in The Perfect Scoop, but I’ve seen this ice cream appear on many of the blogs I read, always with rave reviews. I decided to go for it and was not disappointed. The sour cream simply makes the ice cream extra creamy, but I don’t think I’d know it was an ingredient if no one told me.

I do have two notes on this recipe. First, I recommend processing the strawberry/cream mixture until it is just about completely smooth. Maybe this is just a personal preference, but I don’t really care to have any frozen strawberry bits in my ice cream (because they are completely frozen if you eat this straight from the freezer). Second, this ice cream is best eaten soon after it’s made. I had a taste right after it finished churning, and I preferred that softer texture over the more frozen texture once it had been in the freezer for a day or more. This ice cream seems to freeze harder than others I’ve made (possibly because I omitted the tablespoon of alcohol called for in the recipe).

If you’re looking for a good strawberry ice cream recipe to add to your repertoire, give this creamy strawberry ice cream a try.

One year ago:  Chocolate Banana Bread and Plum Raspberry Sorbet

Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

Printable Recipe

Makes about 1 1/4 quarts

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vodka or kirsch (I omitted)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

  1. Slice the strawberries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve. (If omitting the alcohol, just sprinkle in a little water with your fingers to help the sugar begin to dissolve.) Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring every so often.
  2. Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until nearly smooth.
  3. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Recipe slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

This post is linked to Sweets for a Saturday and These Chicks Cooked

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Blueberry Smoothie

Posted in Beverages, tagged , , , on May 11, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Blueberry Smoothie

Smoothies make a great breakfast, and since they’re portable you can blend one up and take it with you in the morning. I tend to make smoothies most often in the afternoon, though. They make a nutritious afternoon snack, filled with fruit, milk, and yogurt (which provide calcium and protein). Recently I’ve been adding some flaxseed as well for a little extra fiber and protein. I like to use frozen fruit in my smoothies. It’s convenient, and since it’s frozen, it thickens the smoothie, so that no ice is required.

The banana and yogurt make this smoothie incredibly creamy. It’s almost like you’re drinking a milkshake, but much healthier of course. When Julia wakes up from her afternoon nap, and I tell her we’re going to have a smoothie for a snack, her little face lights up. And mine does too. :)

One year ago:  Marbles

Blueberry Smoothie

Printable Recipe

Makes 2 smoothies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • 1 banana
  • 3/4 cup plain yogurt (I used lowfat Greek yogurt)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Add milk to thin, if necessary. Serve immediately.

Recipe is a Kristine’s Kitchen original.

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Strawberry Shortcakes

Posted in Cakes & Cupcakes, Desserts, tagged , , on May 2, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Post updated 7/6/12 with new photos.

 

Strawberry Shortcakes are one of my favorite, easy desserts to make during the spring and summertime. I love their simplicity- a sweetened biscuit is topped with freshly whipped cream and sweet, fresh berries. Shortcakes are also easily adaptable since you can use whatever berries you like- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or a combination of these would all be delicious. I’ve even made shortcakes with peaches, sauteed apples, or bananas (the bananas were served with a chocolate shortcake and caramel sauce, but that’s a recipe for another day :) ).

Over the years I have tried many different shortcake recipes, and some have been better than others. I’d never found one that was good enough to commit to my recipe binder, until now. This recipe comes from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook, and the shortcakes are light, slightly sweet, and just right for a light dessert on a warm night.

Mother’s Day is this coming weekend, and if you’re looking for a simple dessert to serve, I think these shortcakes would be perfect.

One year ago:  Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes and Cookie Dough Frosting

Strawberry Shortcakes

Printable Recipe

Makes 12 shortcakes

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.
  2. Pour in the heavy cream; using a rubber spatula, fold cream into the dough, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky.
  3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently pat the dough into a round about 1 1/4 inches thick, pressing in any loose bits. Do not overwork the dough. Use a floured 2 1/4-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits as close together as possible. (Use one cut edge as the edge for the next biscuit.)
  4. Place the biscuits on an unlined baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Brush rounds with lightly beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  5. To serve, split biscuits in half with a serrated knife. Place bottom halves on serving plates, top with fresh sliced strawberries and freshly whipped cream, and cover with biscuit tops. Serve immediately.

Shortcake recipe from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream

Posted in Cakes & Cupcakes, Desserts, tagged , , , on April 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream

A few weeks ago I decided to bake some cupcakes for my birthday.  (I know it’s typical to have someone else bake your birthday cake for you, but I’d been wanting to bake some cupcakes so I thought why not bake myself some birthday cupcakes. :) )

I wanted to go with something light, and chose a recipe for angel food cupcakes. Those didn’t turn out so well (more like shrunken mini cakes that didn’t taste all that good). I couldn’t let those be my birthday cupcakes; they were much too sad. So I went to my computer and searched the internet for another recipe. This time, I decided that I should just go for the chocolate. It’s hard to go wrong with a chocolate cake recipe, and these cupcakes are no exception. I think these will be my go-to chocolate cupcakes from now on.

Even though the angel food cupcakes didn’t work out, I still wanted to top my cupcakes with strawberry whipped cream. I chopped some strawberries up small, mashed them a bit with a fork, and then mixed them into some freshly whipped cream. The chocolate/strawberry/whipped cream combination made for a birthday treat that was just right.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream

Printable Recipe

Makes about 16 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

  • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. espresso powder
  • 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

For the strawberry whipped cream:

  • 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and stems removed
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Directions:

  1. To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 16 wells of two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder together; whisk to blend, and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in three additions alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix each addition just until incorporated.
  3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. For the strawberry whipped cream, chop the strawberries into small pieces and then mash slightly with a fork. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream until it thickens and has the consistency of whipped cream. Beat in the powdered sugar. Using a spatula, gently mix in the mashed strawberries.
  5. Frost cupcakes with strawberry whipped cream. Garnish with fresh strawberry slices, as desired. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cupcake recipe from Annie’s Eats, who adapted it from Cupcake Project. Strawberry whipped cream recipe is a Kristine’s Kitchen original.

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