Tag Archives: strawberry

Strawberries and cream bars

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These are another of the bakes I made for our bank holiday barbecue (still 2 more to go!) and were chosen because no British summer event is really complete without strawberries cream in one form or another.

I had the original recipe for these from Cookies and Cups bookmarked on Pinterest for ages, so this seemed like the perfect occasion to give them a go before the strawberry season sadly comes to an end.

I changed the recipe up a bit because I didn’t want to use a boxed cake mix, and ended up using the same recipe for the base and crumb that I used as the base for my Millionaire’s Shortbread so I could make both at once.

It worked pretty well and the bars turned out great – they tasted just like strawberry cheesecake, looked really pretty, and were even relatively low calorie – 160 if you cut them into 12 pieces.

They would also work well with other fruits – I’m particularly thinking blueberry – so may have to try a few more versions…

Strawberries and cream bars (adapted from Cookies and Cups)

  • 165g flour
  • 130g butter
  • 55g caster sugar
  • 200g strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 200g cream cheese
  • 65g caster sugar
  • 1tsp vanilla extract

For the base/crumb, rub the butter into the flour to create a breadcrumb-like mix, then stir in the sugar. Press about 2/3 of this into the base of an 8×8″ square tin, lined with baking paper, and bake at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until starting to turn golden.

Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. When the base is done, pour the cream cheese mixture on top, scatter the chopped strawberries all over, and finish by sprinkling clumps of the rest of the crumb mixture on top.

Return to the oven for another 30-40 minutes, until the cream cheese mixture is set and the crumb is golden. Leave to cool before slicing into bars, and serve chilled.

Strawberry blondies (GF)

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I don’t know if I’m the only person who finds this, but in the summer I sometimes feel slightly overwhelmed by the amazing seasonal ingredients available, particularly summer berries, and never have enough time to make all the recipes I want to try, meaning they often get put aside for another year.

I have tons of strawberry recipes bookmarked, some I’ll probably never get around to making, but when I saw these blondies on Love and Olive Oil I knew I would have to find time to give them a go.

I made them last weekend to take to a barbecue – I needed something I could make a couple of days in advance that would keep in the fridge for a couple of days, could be easily transported, and easily adapted to be gluten-free, and these ticked all the boxes.

It’s a pretty standard brownie recipe, with white chocolate subbed in for the dark, but what I love is how the strawberries all rise to the top as it bakes, making them look really pretty (and like more skill was involved than was actually the case!)

They went down really well at the barbecue, a few people asked for the recipe and I don’t think you would have known they were made with gluten-free flour.

Although my favourite way of eating strawberries will always be fresh, this is definitely a great way of using them in baking and I’m glad I found the time to make them!

Strawberry Blondies (gf) (adapted from Love and Olive Oil)

Makes 16 sqaures

  • 140g white chocolate
  • 75g butter
  • 135g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 120g gluten-free plain flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 150g strawberries, hulled and quartered
  • 60g white chocolate, chopped

Melt the 140g white chocolate and butter over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, remove from the heat and beat in the sugar, followed by the eggs and vanilla. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt and fold until combined, then stir in the chopped strawberries and 60g white chocolate. Pour the mixture into an 8×8″ square tin, lined with baking paper, and bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes. I found that the top browned quite quickly, so after 20 minutes I covered with foil and cooked for a further 10-15 minutes until set but with a slight wobble. Leave to cool then slice into squares and serve!

As a barbecue is as close as I’m going to get to a fair or fete this month, I’m entering these for the July Tea Time Treats challenge, hosted by Karen of Lavender and Lovage - I’d certainly be happy to buy one if I was at a summer fair or fete!

Strawberry and blueberry crumbles for two

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I am literally obsessed with bargain shopping.

I used to stick to the ‘it’s only a good deal if you really need it’ motto, but not anything and everything that has a reduction sticker on it goes into the shopping trolley.

So naturally, when I found a punnet of blueberries originally £4 for 65p, and strawberries originally £1.50 for 55p, I couldn’t resist.

For the most part they were perfectly fine to just eat fresh, but a few of the strawberries were starting to look a little past their best, so I decided to whip up a couple of quick, individual crumbles for a really easy weeknight dessert.

This is so ridiculously easy that it may become a bit of a regular habit whenever I see bargain fruits, particularly when it’s as miserable and rainy as it has been this week…

Strawberry and blueberry crumbles for two

  • 125g strawberries
  • 100g blueberries
  • 15g butter
  • 30g plain flour
  • 15g demerera sugar
  • 15g rolled oats

Hull and quarter the strawberries, then mix with the blueberries and divide between two small ramekins. Rub together the butter and flour to form a rough breadcrumb-like mix, then stir in the sugar and oats and sprinkle on top of the fruit. Bake at 180 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until the crumble is golden and the juice is bubbling up at the sides. We had ours with custard but ice cream would be delicious too!

Strawberry cheesecake

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Cheesecake is pretty much my favourite dessert, and is (I think) perfect for any time of the year as it’s so adaptable.

I was determined to wait until June to bake anything with strawberries so I could use the best, sweetest, British ones. June 1 is the friendly pony’s mum’s birthday, and every time we talk about baking she mentions how much she loved a cheesecake I made a couple of years ago, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to celebrate strawberry season with a fresh strawberry cheesecake.

I used my go-to cheesecake recipe for the filling, with a gingernut base, white chocolate cream cheese topping and plenty of delicious strawberries – which I tried to arrange in a kind of arty way, not sure if I pulled it off!

I didn’t get many pictures of it as I always feel a bit awkward getting my camera out at someone else’s house – do any other bloggers get that?!

As the theme for this month’s Tea Time Treats challenge, hosted by Kate of What Kate Baked, is summer fruits, I am entering this. I can’t wait to see the round up for some more fruity inspiration – it’s what summer baking is all about!

Strawberry cheesecake

Cuts into 10-12 slices

For the cheesecake:

  • 200g gingernut biscuits
  • 30g butter, melted
  • 900g full-fat cream cheese
  • 3tbsp cornflour
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • zest and juice of a lemon
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 375ml double cream

For the topping:

  • 100g cream cheese
  • 50g white chocolate
  • 25g icing sugar
  • 400g strawberries

To make the base, blitz the biscuits in a food processor until finely ground, then slowly add in the butter – it should look like wet sand, if it seems a bit dry then add a little more butter. Press into the base of a 9″ round springform cake tin, and bake at 180 degrees for 8 minutes. Leave to cool while you make the filling.

Beat the cream cheese to soften, then add the sugar and cornflour and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon juice and zest and fold in the cream. Pour onto the base, then place on the middle shelf of the oven with a tray of hot water on the shelf below. Bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees, then turn the heat down to 110 and bake for another hour and a half. Turn the oven off but leave the cheesecake inside to cool for at least 4 hours. When cool, move to the fridge to chill.

For the topping, melt the white chocolate then beat into the cream cheese with the icing sugar and spread over the cheesecake. Wash and hull the strawberries, then slice lengthways into 3 or 4 pieces. Arrange in circles on top of the cheesecake, using the biggest pieces first around the edge then working your way towards the middle using the smaller pieces. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Coconut cupcakes with strawberry jam hearts (GF)

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Coconut cupcakes have been on my mind for ages now.

Originally I planned to make pina colada cupcakes with a pineapple curd filling, but the curd recipe didn’t turn out great so I put them on hold; then it was going to be coconut and Nutella, but I didn’t have any; then a white chocolate coconut ganache filling, but that didn’t work, so FINALLY I settled on simple coconut cupcakes with strawberry jam filling and coconut cream cheese icing!

I wanted to make these to take into work so they had to be wheat and gluten free, so I adapted the recipe for the cupcakes from this one at Cooking Classy, and subbed regular plain flour for gluten free.

The only other change I made was slightly altering the egg quantities, so I was really pleased when these baked with a nice, light but not dry texture, as I know sometimes GF flours can be a bit tricky to work with.

The cupcakes went down really well with everyone who tried one, and the cream cheese icing, adapted from a Dan Lepard recipe was a revelation – it’s the first one I’ve made that didn’t need half a box of icing sugar but was the perfect consistency, not at all runny!

Oh, and I almost forgot – I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of fancy piping techniques! Although the sprinkling of coconut on top can hide all manner of sins…

Coconut cupcakes with strawberry jam hearts (adapted from Cooking Classy)

Makes 16-18 cupcakes

  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 210g gf plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 170g butter
  • 270g caster sugar
  • 3 whole eggs, one egg white
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 185ml coconut milk

For filling and icing

  • 2 tbsp strawberry jam
  • 200g butter
  • 200g icing cugar
  • 400g cream cheese
  • 50g desiccated coconut, plus extra for decoration

Start by grinding the desiccated coconut in a food processor to get it as fine as you can. Add it to the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs a little at a time, followed by the vanilla. Fold in 1/3 of the flour/coconut mix, then 1/3 of the coconut milk, then repeat, folding in alternately until all the ingredients have been used.

Line a cupcake tin with cases and spoon the mixture into them, about 2/3 full. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

To fill with the jam, I use an apple corer which cuts really need holes in the cakes (dodgy picture below as it was getting dark) – you could use a knife to cut holes if you want though. Heat the jam a little to make it easier to pour, then add a little into the hole of each cupcake and place the tops back on.

For the icing, beat the butter to soften, then add in the icing sugar and half the cream cheese. Using an electric mixer, beat until no lumps remain and it looks light and creamy. Add the remaining cream cheese and coconut, beat quickly until just combined, then leave in the fridge for half an hour to firm up a bit before piping or spooning on to the cupcakes. Sprinkle a little more coconut on top and you’re done!

Strawberries and cream chocolate Ivy cake

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Last weekend, our neighbour Ivy celebrated her 91st birthday. NINETY-ONE!

This was definitely cause for a celebration cake. A bit of sneaky research revealed that creamy cakes are her favourite, so I set about making this strawberries and cream chocolate layer cake.

I used the same sponge recipe that I used for the chocolate gateau a while ago, but baked it in three layers as it rose out of the tin last time. I think this is definitely going to be my go-to recipe for chocolate layer cakes, it’s fudgey, chocolatey, and can hold the weight of several layers on top.

I spread each of the bottom two layers with melted strawberry jam, then piled on whipped cream with chopped strawberries mixed in. The top layer of the cake was decorated with a layer of chocolate ganache, halved strawberries arranged around the edge, and white chocolate writing.

We finished the cake with a few candles and took the it round to surprise Ivy. She loved it!

Strawberries and cream chocolate Ivy cake:

For the sponge

  • 250ml buttermilk
  • 125g plain chocolate
  • 125g butter or margarine
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 300g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water. Cream together the butter and sugar then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sieve the dry ingredients into the cake and fold until well combined. Beat in half of the buttermilk, then the melted chocolate and remaining buttermilk.

Divide the mixture between three 7″ tins (I only have two so I baked then in two goes, and weighed the mixture to make sure each tin had the same amount). Bake at 180 degrees on the middle shelf of the oven, for approximately 2 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the filling and decoration

  • 300g strawberries
  • 275ml double cream
  • 50g icing sugar
  • 3-4 tbsp strawberry jam
  • 75g dark chocolate
  • 25g white chocolate

Halve 8 of the strawberries for the decoration and set aside. Finely chop the rest. Whip the cream until soft peaks are starting to form, then stir in the icing sugar and chopped strawberries.

Melt the jam, then brush onto two of the sponge layers. Divide the cream mix between the two sponges, and sandwich together.

Place the dark chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until almost boiling, then pour over the chocolate and stir until well mixed. Refrigerate until thick enough to spread, then spread onto the third cake layer to within 1cm of the edge. Arrange the halved strawberries around the edge of the cake, then leave in the fridge until the ganache is set.

Melt the white chocolate and transfer to a piping back for the writing. It’s easier to decorate the top before it goes on the cake, so once the writing is done add the third layer. Add candles and celebrations and enjoy!

Mini white chocolate and strawberry tarts

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This is part 1 of my round up of cakes I made for our neighbourhood barbecue.

These little tarts are inspired by a Waitrose recipe for a large white chocolate and strawberry tart, which I’ve been making for years and has never let me down.

I decided to use a different pastry recipe, just to try something different, so I went with one that BBC Good Food also paired with white chocolate and strawberries (although I switched the hazelnuts for pecans as I had some spare pecans in the cupboard).

The end result was great, a really thin, crisp pastry, with a soft creamy white chocolate filling and delicious strawberries on top. I think they looked really pretty, and everyone seemed to like them, although the pony said they weren’t quite sweet enough for his tastes.

The quantities for the pastry below are actually double what you need, but I used half to make the banoffee pie tarts which I will post about soon. You could either double the filling or freeze half the pastry to make it the right amount!

Mini white chocolate and strawberry tarts:

For the pastry:

  • 180g plain flour
  • 60g icing sugar
  • 1tbsp chopped pecans
  • 90g butter
  • 1 egg
Blend together the flour, sugar, pecans and butter in a food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add in the egg and keep mixing until it comes together in a ball. The recipe says you can roll it out straight away, but I refrigerated it for an hour and still had to use quite a bit of extra flour to roll it out. Roll it fairly thinly, then cut out rounds large enough to fill cupcake tin holes (I don’t actually own any cutters so I used the lid of a Nutella jar, which did the trick!) Freeze for 20 minutes to stop the pastry shrinking, then blind bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees, then for a further 3-5 minutes uncovered, until golden brown.
For the filling:
  • 250g marscapone
  • 100g white chocolate
  • 75ml double cream
  • 250g chopped strawberries
Heat the white chocolate with a quarter of the marscapone of a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat then beat in the remaining marscapone, then stir in the cream. Decant into a jug, then pour into the pastry cases. I found this to be enough mix to fill 15 cases. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve, then top with the chopped strawberries. Delicious summery goodness!

My first ever cake order!

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This week was pretty awesome, as I made my first ever paid-for cake! My lovely neighbour Jo, of Mocha Jo Cake fame, asked if I could make one for her friends’ joint birthday party.

Obviously I was super excited and said yes straight away, before asking exactly what kind of cake she’d like.

It was a simple, but specific brief. Firstly, all products had to be organic if possible. She wanted a victoria sponge with jam and cream, so I used my raspberry rose jam and a big dollop of whipped cream for the filling.

She wanted berries, so strawberries went in with the filling…

And in a neat little ring on top…

And then raspberries were heaped on in the middle.

Looking pretty tasty, right?

Then came the final request…. Broccoli.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love broccoli. But on a cake?! Literally, it hurt so much to do this to my beautiful cake, but as I’ve learnt in my day job you can’t argue with a client… Apparently her friends would find it hilarious, so on went the lovely little raw green florets. Delicious!

I would post a recipe, but I seriously doubt anyone would want to make this… Jo loved it though, so my first ever cake order was a success!

Eton Mess

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Meringue. Berries. Cream. How could anyone possibly not like that combination?!

I think Eton Mess might be one of my favourite summer desserts. That’s why when I had a couple of leftover egg whites, and I found a punnet of blueberries reduced to 50p, I knew exactly what to make.

The blueberries were the best I’ve tasted all summer, and the British strawberries were equally delicious. The fact that they survived long enough to make it into the dessert is down to some severe self restraint!

This barely counts as a recipe as it’s so, so simple.

Whisk 2 egg whites until stiff, then whisk in 110g of caster sugar a spoonful at a time. Blob on to a baking sheet and bake at a low temperature, 130-140ish. 30 mins will give you white meringues with a soft marshmallowy centre, an hour will produce crisper, golden meringues, it’s really down to your personal preference but I went for golden crispy.

Break up the meringues into small-ish chunks. Whip 300ml double cream with a little icing sugar, then pile into glasses with the meringue and whatever berries are available. That was my slight attempt to make it look nice, but really all mixed in together and chucked into a big bowl is equally as good!

I also kept one meringue back to make a mini pavlova, as the friendly pony had never have one before. Talk about deprived culinary upbringing!

Strawberry meringue roulade and other baking disasters

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This week has not been a good one for baking in the hinny house.

I started the week with enthusiasm, ready to bake chocolate coconut profiteroles. It’s been a few years since I last made choux pastry, and I’ve never made creme patissiere, but I was still fairly confident – how hard can it be?

Well the answer to that is very.

The choux pastry was too thin,  so the profiteroles came out as domes rather than balls – although they did have the right taste and texture, so they could have been used were it not for the creme patissiere…

Attempt 1 completely burnt onto the bottom of the pan – immediately thrown into the bin.

Attempt 2 I thought was going well, until I went to pour it an discovered the rather unappetising lumps at the bottom – a moment’s consideration, then into the bin.

Following this massive failure (which i was too traumatised by to take photos) I was left with 4 egg whites – so naturally my next baking attempt was meringue.

Pavlova seemed a bit easy (I know, the previous disaster taught me nothing…) so I decided to go for a meringue roulade. A strawberries and cream meringue roulade, to be precise.

The above picture shows said attempt at a roulade, but as you can see what I actually got was a sloppy strawberry mess.

I’m really annoyed, because I knew before doing it that I was making a mistake, but decided to place my trust in the original recipe… error!

The recipe called for the roulade to have the fillings put in and be rolled up straight away. The fillings inlcuded whipped cream, which predictably melted on contact.

As i rolled it, the cream flowed out, taking several strawberries with it.

Despite it’s slightly unconventional look, it did actually taste ok, and the friendly pony thinks ‘sloppy’ is the best thing a food can be, so it wasn’t an absolute failure.

The recipe works, as long as you dont try and put cold cream on hot meringue straight away!

Strawberry meringue roulade (loosely based on this one)

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 220g caster sugar
  • 150ml double cream
  • 50g icing sugar (estimate)
  • 100g strawberries (estimate)
  • 3 tbsp strawberry jam

Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until thick and stiff. Whisk in the sugar, a spoonful at a time, until glossy. Line a 30 x 20 cm baking tin with greaseproof paper and spread the meringue to fill it. Bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until crisp and lightly golden on top.

Turn the meringue out onto another piece of greaseproof paper, dusted with icing sugar. LEAVE TO COOL!!!!

Whip the cream until thick, then fold in icing sugar, a bit a time, to taste. Spread a layer of jam on the meringue, followed by a layer of cream, and then scatter the strawberries all over before rolling up from one of the long edges.

Your slice of delicious meringue roulade should look far neater than this one!