My husband saw the strawberries come into the house last week and immediately asked when we were having Strawberry Shortcake. In our family, this means some sort of cake - anything from Angel Food Cake to yellow cake to Pound Cake with fresh strawberry sauce and whipped cream. I put plenty of berries in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator for later while we enjoyed a big bowl of fresh strawberries with every meal for a few days. Remember not to wash your strawberries before you're ready to eat them or they will get soggy. These beauties from City Roots Farm needed only the quickest rinse at the last moment. The simplest way to make strawberry sauce is to slice up some berries, sprinkle sugar over them and wait. The sugar pulls the juices out and you get sweet strawberries with a thin sugary sauce. This can be spooned over cake or ice cream for a seasonal treat. I wanted to explore other options this time so I tried a slightly more involved recipe. I was not disappointed.
This recipe was created by chef Michel Nischan and found on the Oprah website.
Strawberry Sauce
2 cups chopped ripe strawberries
6 cups halved strawberries
5 tablespoons honey plus 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1/8 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon lemon zest
12 lemon verbena leaves
Place one cup chopped strawberries in a saucepan with the 5 T honey, lemon zest, vanilla bean and verbena leaves. I didn't have any lemon verbena so I left it out (I wonder if lemon balm would work). It's important not to leave out the lemon zest to balance out the sweet honey taste. I also think it would be okay to use 1/4 vanilla bean. Bring this to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 8 minutes until it's slightly thickened. Let it cool and scrape the vanilla seeds into the sauce and discard the pod. Once cool, place the cooked mixture in a food processor with the other cup of chopped strawberries and blend until just smooth. Refrigerate until chilled. Toss the remaining 6 cups berries with either 1 T honey or a little sugar and set aside. I used about 1 teaspoon of sugar on the berries, so they were basically just fresh berries because this sauce is very sweet.
When you're ready to serve, spoon some sauce over a layer of sliced berries for the perfect combination. The honey, lemon zest and vanilla provide a more complex flavor that highlights the fresh berries.
Cake was requested, so I used my Vanilla Bean Cupcake recipe in two 9" cake pans. This lovely dense cake was layered with sweet honey sauce, fresh strawberries and whipped cream sweeted with confectioners sugar and vanilla for a really wonderful dessert. There's something special about treats which can only be enjoyed when the ingredients are in season.
(This sauce would also be excellent on plain greek yogurt.)
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