Summer has finally arrived in England, and so has the strawberry season.
Most days are long, hot and sunny,
and I can’t think of anything better than fresh berries straight from the bush.
I planted a few strawberry plants in my own garden this year
and though they are the most delicious berries I’ve ever had,
they don’t give enough fruit to cook with.
Strawberry season is quite long lasting in England.
Berries grow and ripen from end of May until September,
though the peak of growth and flavour is right now, in June.
I went to my local pick your own farm to harvest some strawberries
to turn into delicious summer desserts.
I have 4 recipes to share with you today,
from healthy to indulging.
Let's start with strawberry breakfast muffins.
You will need 2 eggs,
150g of maple syrup or honey,
50g of oil (I used coconut),
and 75g of milk (I used almond).
whisk whisk
Juice 1/2 of a lemon.
I usually just do it by hand, but be careful with lemon seeds.
whisk whisk again :)
200g of ground almonds
220g of ground oats
2 tbsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt.
Zest half of a lemon.
200g of strawberries cut into cubes
Mix with 1 tbsp of cornstarch to prevent them from sinking
to the bottom of your muffins.
Another 200g of strawberries for the filling.
Mash with the fork.
Or use 200g of strawberry jam instead.
Mix with 1 tbsp of cornstarch to thicken.
Mix cubed strawberries into batter.
Put 1 tbsp of batter into muffin cups.
Add mashed strawberries or jam to the middle.
Then top with more batter.
I also added some crushed pecans on top.
Bake for 25 minutes at 180 C (356 F)
Our muffins are ready in time for breakfast :)
They taste best when warm.
I ended up with 8 big muffins.
Let's make a refreshing summer drink
You will need about 15 strawberries.
You can use less or more if you like. :)
Mash half of your strawberries, and cube another half.
Add 1 tbsp of brown sugar
Mix and leave to rest for 1 hour.
In the meantime let's make something else :)
For this recipe you can use strawberries that are a bit bruised
because we are going to blend them.
Fill up your blender with strawberries ( I had approx 400g)
Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon
and add 1 tbsp of honey.
Fruit rolls are considered a children's snack,
but I personally love this snack too.
Repeat the same with mango. I used 1/2 of a fruit.
Honey and lemon juice.
Spread a thin layer of strawberry puree on a baking paper
and add dollops of mango puree.
Make swirls with the back of a spoon.
Bake at around 80 C (175 F) for 3 hours or until it stops being sticky on top.
Once ready, separate it from the baking sheet, slice with the pizza cutter,
and roll up the strips. :)
Let's go back to our strawberry milk.
Fill up a 1L jar with strawberry jam
about 1/3 full.
Top up with 700 ml of milk.
I used oat milk.
Ideally let it sit for about 1 hour to let flavours infuse,
but I couldn't wait! :)
Now it's time for the indulgent recipe.
Sift 150g of plain flour
and 2 tbsp of matcha powder.
If you don't like matcha, you can skip this step.
Add 3 tbsp of sugar and mix well :)
30 g of oil or melted butter
and 4 eggs
whisk whisk :)
Add 400ml of milk in 3-4 parts.
Adding milk gradually allows to make smooth, lump-free batter.
Let the batter sit for 1h before cooking.
Lightly grease a pan with oil.
Pour crepe batter onto a well pre-heated pan.
Bubbles are a sign that you need to flip :)
Frying usually takes about 2 mins on one side, and 1 minute on the other.
I ended up with 15 pancakes in total.
Slice 200 g of fresh strawberries
I bought some freeze-dried strawberries the other day,
They will increase the strawberry flavour, but are absolutely optional.
300ml of cold whipping cream, 3 tbsp of sugar
and 3 tsp of ground dried strawberries.
Whisk until hard peaks form.
Be careful to not whisk for too long, or you will make butter :)
Dry strawberries will turn your cream light pink.
Now let's assemble!
Make sure your crepes have cooled down before assembling though.
Spread a thin layer of cream on the first crepe, then cover with another crepe.
Next layer will be cream + strawberries.
Cover and repeat.
One layer just cream, another layer with cream and strawberries.
Make sure you spread your cream on very thin
or you might need to double the amount of whipping cream and sugar.
Sift 1 tbsp of matcha on top if you decided to follow this step.
I mixed some of the remaining cream and strawberry powder
to use as a decoration.
Chill in the fridge for 2-4 hours before serving.