Strawberries

 

'Laughter is brightest in the place where food is' – Irish proverb

'People who love to eat are always the best people' – Julia Child

In our family at breakfast we’re planning the lunch we’re going to have - and at lunchtime we’re already thinking about dinner.  There you have it, in a nutshell.

My kitchen was filled with the heavenly scent of strawberries this morning as I made my microwave strawberry jam.  I never use the stove for jam anymore.  It’s just so easy to do in the microwave, although you have to watch it carefully and make sure you use a very large bowl (don’t cover the bowl) – it’s always good to have a few under-ripe berries too – helps with the setting.

Here’s my recipe:

Easy Microwave Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:

2 punnets strawberries, washed and hulled and cut in half if they’re large
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
(that’s it for the ingredients – yay!)

Method:

Microwave strawberries for 3 minutes on high.  Add sugar, stir, and cook on high for about 20-25 minutes – stop and stir every 3 minutes or so until the mixture starts to thicken.  The time will vary according to the fruit. When the jam has set, (you can test it by seeing if a drop holds it shape in a saucer of water) bottle in sterilised jars.  Makes about 1 cup. Delicious!

Strawberry Coulis

Ingredients:

400g washed and hulled strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup sugar

Simply microwave the strawberries for 3 minutes on high.  Stir, then microwave a further 3 or 4 minutes.  They should look a bit mushy.  Using a stick blender, puree until smooth.  Cool and voila! you have a lovely sauce to serve over ice cream or with a panna cotta.

And here is a wonderful Strawberry Cake recipe that I got from Sarah Fielke, Queen of Quilters.

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 punnets strawberries
1 egg
1 1/2 cups SR Flour
6 Tblspns butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tspn vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 180.  Wash and hull strawberries, cutting them in half.  Beat butter and sugar until fluffy - add egg, milk and vanilla.  Transfer batter to 20cm round tin.  Push strawberries into top of cake, close together.
Bake on bottom shelf of oven for 50 mins to 1 hr.
Remove from oven, wrap a tea towel around the cake tin and leave for 1 hour.  (This last step is really important). Remove cake from tin and serve