In the Spotlight: Strawberries

Image by Digital Wallpapers, used under Creative Commons licence

It's strawberry time! Our strawberry patch is beginning to produce several ripe strawberries a day, which is great because we all love strawberries. At the height of strawberry season in previous years we've had too many to eat before they start to go off, so many are either frozen whole, or pureed and then frozen. It's a great way to make sure we've got fruit throughout the winter.

Strawberries make a lovely addition to a fruit crumble. My favourite combination is strawberry and greengage, with the sweet and sour tastes balancing each other. There's always the traditional strawberries and cream, but I've seen people just eat strawberries with a little pile of sugar. Not very healthy but delicious!

Preparation

Fresh strawberries are best if you're going to eat them whole, as frozen strawberries tend to be quite soggy when they thaw. Remove the green stalk and the hard white hull with the tip of a sharp knife and wash before eating. Halve or quarter each fruit to eat them with cream or ice cream, or leave them whole to dip into sugar.

It's best to eat strawberries at room temperature, so if they've been in the fridge make sure you've taken them out and put them in the sunshine for a couple of hours before eating.

Blend a handful of strawberries with some milk, a banana and a scoop of vanilla ice cream or yoghurt for a milkshake, or mix with ice and other berries for a delicious summer smoothie.

Recipes
Warm strawberry crumb cake (external link)