Remember how I told you how I was looking for a pair for fragrant violets so that they would combine in taste and aroma? (Cm. ). It was early spring, at that time there were no seasonal fruits and vegetables except citrus fruits. And it turned out that the aromas of lemon and orange harmoniously intertwine with violet! But when it came to taste, it was already more difficult to find a combination that would perfectly merge in these two parameters at once. Moreover, it is necessary to separate the taste and aroma in raw and processed form.
The color combination of orange and violet is amazing! Orange jam with fragrant violet it turned out interesting, but it still needs to be understood...
Now I wanted to philosophize on this topic with strawberries. I will not go into botanical details, talk about what real strawberries are and that in our gardens, mainly large-fruited garden strawberries grow.
Who knows about this difference and knows what kind of berries he grows or buys at the market - good :) For those who don’t know, let’s just take the story with nuts as an axiom and use the commonly used word “strawberry”, distinguishing it, for example, from forest strawberries strawberries (see).
In our area, strawberries are the first berry of spring, next to them only wild dandelion greens, radishes and green onions with arugula grow:) I don’t feel like making a salad with such ingredients, so the idea went in a different direction.
It turned out that the aroma of strawberries combines in its own way with some herbs! Our rosemary has already faded, sage is blooming, oregano and lavender will soon bloom, basil is growing, which I started growing in pots this season (and did the right thing). I planted one part of the basil outside, now you can take leaves from it. Young leaves of rosemary, lavender, sage and oregano could have been cut a month or more ago.
It just so happens that when remembering strawberries and herbs, only mint comes to mind for many, but each of the herbs listed above also complements the aroma of this berry in its own way, forming interesting combinations!
Rosemary, lavender, sage, different types oregano and basil - all of them can be tried not only with strawberries, but also with other berries and fruits.
Strawberry and Greek oregano
There is nothing unusual for me in the combination of herbs and spices with fruits, berries and vegetables. On the contrary: sometimes it even surprises me how people can cook food without such ingredients :) Herbs and spices are not only aroma and taste, they also help our body: they reduce or smooth out the undesirable effects of certain ingredients and have a positive effect on digestion.
Strawberries are a sweet and sour berry with a very pleasant aroma and beautiful appearance. Almost everyone likes this look and aroma, even men, but when you taste it... That’s why they try to do everything with strawberries, just so as not to eat them just like that :)
Deep down, strawberries also hide an astringent taste, so you don’t need to eat a lot of berries in one sitting so as not to set your teeth on edge or feel nausea or vomiting. Simply put, the astringent taste is called that because it binds: after a certain amount of such a product, the stomach is not able to accept anything else. Tibetan, Chinese, and Ayurvedic medicine recommend finishing meals with foods with a pronounced astringent taste and not eating anything after them in order to avoid digestive problems.
Under certain circumstances (for example, changes in weather conditions, age of the plant, or heat treatment) some flavors are lost, while others may be enhanced. And each of us can perceive natural tastes taking into account the characteristics of our own body: for example, one person clearly feels the astringent properties of cherries, strawberries and persimmons, while another, having eaten fruits from the same bush or tree, does not.
This season we have been enjoying strawberries for more than three weeks, so I have something to tell about them and something to show - both culinary and even handicraft :)
I have already talked about the combination of strawberries and purple basil (see the link at the beginning of this article). See below
It's like witchcraft: you take a kilogram or two of fresh fruits or berries, wave a magic wand (or a silicone spatula or wooden spoon) over a strongly boiling, bubbling and wonderfully smelling cauldron, and the sweet mass turns into a transparent golden-amber jam. But magic also has laws and rules. Here are 10 secret recommendations. Only with us and only for you!
1. The best sweet preparations are made from the freshest, just picked berries and fruits. Ideally, they should be picked a maximum of 2 hours ago. If you don’t have your own garden, buy the freshest fruits, don’t chase the bruised and “discounted” ones. Only a little overripe fruit can be added to fresh berries and fruits, since they contain more pectin. Thanks to its participation, you will get a good jelly-like structure of the liquid part of the product and a more complex taste of the entire product. Pectin is especially important when cooking confiture or jam.
2. When collecting fruits growing on trees (apples, pears, plums, apricots, dogs), do not knock them down or shake them to the ground. The bruised areas on the fruit quickly darken and they begin to deteriorate. Remove the fruits by hand, each fruit separately and carefully place in a basket or on a sieve. Wash and dry the fruits completely and only then start cooking.
3. Jam is essentially berries, fruits and sugar. You can play with this ratio as much as you like, but remember - too much fruit will give you a loss of the fruit's unique consistency; Excess sugar will begin to crystallize during storage. Be sure to weigh the processed and prepared fruits for cooking. When calculating the ratio of sugar and berries, please keep in mind that berries are different from berries! Ripe strawberries with low acidity and low pectin content require more sugar, approximately 70% of total weight. And for blueberries 40% will be enough. For apricots and plums - 45%, for cherries and peaches - 60%. .
4. Experiment not only with the amount of sugar, but also with natural flavors. Honey and maple syrup, although in ordinary life they can replace sugar, they behave differently in jam. Therefore, use them sparingly, only as flavoring agents. For example, for apricot and plum jam. Also work carefully with freshly ground pink pepper (for pears), nutmeg (for assorted strawberries, raspberries and blackberries), rosemary and thyme (for plums and blackberries). If you add cinnamon sticks (for figs and raisins), anise (for apricots) and cardamom (for oranges and dates) to the jam, be sure to remove them before serving.
5. When heated, the sugar-berry mass begins to foam and leave marks on the walls of the pan. Make sure the sugar simmers over low heat. Avoid stirring the sweet mass too vigorously, as you may break the integrity of the berries/fruits and cause sugar crystallization. A lot of foam has formed on the surface of the sweet preparation - this is normal, the excess can be carefully put aside in a separate bowl, because the foam itself is extremely tasty. You can minimize its amount by adding a little butter (about 20 g).
6. To make sure the jam is ready, scoop it up with a teaspoon (pre-chilled in the freezer) and put it back in the freezer for 5 minutes. When you take out the spoon and tilt it, the finished jam should hold its shape well and the syrup should not flow like water.
7. When pouring jam into jars, do not pour too much of it. Let it be poured 1-1.5 cm below the top edge of the neck.
8. Many people close the neck of the jam jar with wax paper and only then with the lid. This is right! Paper increases the tightness of the workpiece and prevents condensation from appearing in the jar. This is what causes mold to form.
9. The optimal storage temperature for finished jam is 10-12 °C. The shelf life is up to 3 years, but this is more of a fantasy. Can tasty and properly cooked jam be stored for so long?
23 harmonious combinations of fruits, vegetables and berries for making jam, marmalade and jam
Apricots and gooseberries \ Apricots and carrots \ Quince with raisins
Japanese quince and zucchini \ Lingonberries with plums \ Lingonberries with carrots
Lingonberries with beets \ Grapes and quince \ Cherries and chokeberries
Pear and cherry plum \ Pear and cranberry \ Strawberry and red currant
Strawberries and gooseberries \ Gooseberries and raspberries \ Sea buckthorn and walnuts
Plum and pear \ Plum and tomato \ Red currant with watermelon
White cherries and lemon \ Blueberries and apples \ Chokeberries and black currants
The recipes described in the article will help you make a sponge cake with strawberries - a layer of strawberry cream will not leave any sweet tooth indifferent. The advantage of aromatic berries is that they can be bought all year round - in summer they are fresh, juicy, in winter - artificially grown or frozen. Those who want to enjoy the rich strawberry flavor should learn how to prepare a dessert that combines the aroma of berries and airy dough.
How to make strawberry cake
The dessert shown in the photo is not at all difficult to prepare at home. Even an inexperienced housewife can make a delicious strawberry cake if she knows and follows some rules:
- It is better to take berries that are ripe, dark red in color, without dents or damage, and of medium size.
- Before adding strawberries to the cake, they must be washed and dried well. After this, the berry is cut into two parts or more, depending on the size.
- There are several ways to make sponge cakes, but each of them requires the presence of the main ingredients: sugar, flour and eggs. In some cases, vanilla essence, baking powder or cocoa powder are added.
- The cake is also delicious with butter cream, cottage cheese, sour cream. For preparation, you can also use yogurt, chocolate, gelatin, jam or cognac.
- The dough must be poured into a medium-sized mold (up to 25 cm in diameter), first lined with baking paper.
- The cake should be baked in the oven for no more than half an hour, and the temperature should be set to the standard - 180 degrees.
What goes with strawberries in a cake?
The berry, which has a wonderful romantic aroma, is ideal for preparing a delicious cake based on puff pastry, shortbread or biscuit. In desserts, berries go well with banana, vanilla, mint, chocolate and other ingredients that can highlight the delicate strawberry flavor. Strawberries can be used in any form: grated, fresh, whole or frozen, but desserts with strawberry jam or preserves are no less tasty.
Strawberry Cake Recipes
At home, you can easily make a strawberry cake with any base. You can even make a pancake dessert. The main task of the cook is to know how to prepare the filling, which will give the dish an unforgettable taste and aroma. Many dessert recipes do not require professional culinary skills from the performer; for example, in the simplest case you just need to beat the eggs and arrange the berries beautifully.
Strawberry Kiss Cake
- Cooking time: 3 hours.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 232 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: Russian.
Unforgettable delicate taste The delicacy fully lives up to its romantic name. If you are a lover of delicious baked goods, be sure to make such a cake - the airy poppy seed cakes with soufflé-like cream will remain in your memory for a long time. An appropriate addition is sweet and sour strawberry jam - it makes the dessert not cloying and pleasant to the taste.
Ingredients:
- eggs – 6 pcs.;
- sugar – 6 tbsp. l.;
- food poppy – 80 g;
- flour – 6 tbsp. l.
- flour – 1 tbsp. l.;
- yolks – 2 pcs.;
- milk – 400 ml;
- oil sl. – 250 g;
- starch - 1 tbsp. l.;
- powdered sugar – 100 g;
- vanillin - to taste.
- sugar – 4 tbsp. l.;
- gelatin – 15 g;
- strawberries – 0.5 kg.
Cooking method:
- Prepare the base for the cakes: beat the whites separately from the yolks, making the mixture sweet. Without turning on the mixer, add the yolks. Gently stir in the sifted flour with a spoon. Pour a third of the mixture into the mold, pour poppy seeds into the remaining mixture. Bake three sponge cakes - 1 white, 2 with poppy seeds.
- Sweeten the strawberries, grind to a puree, pour diluted gelatin into the mixture.
- Pour the future jelly into two molds and let it harden.
- Combine the yolks with powder, add flour and starch. Pour boiled milk and vanilla into the yolk mixture, stirring, wait until everything boils, and then cool the mixture. Add whipped butter, refrigerate until cream thickens.
- First lay out the poppy seed cake, brush it with cream, then place the jelly. Proceed by analogy with the remaining blanks. There should be a cake with poppy seeds on top: you need to coat the sides too.
- Decorate the cake whole strawberry, dust with powder.
Frazier Cake
- Cooking time: 15 hours.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 221 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: French.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
The French dessert “Frézier” shown in the photo is an exquisite cake that consists of a delicate sponge cake, delicious filling and large quantity fresh juicy berries. Chic appearance delicacies are obtained by performing simple movements. You will definitely be able to make the same one, the main thing is to do everything step by step, following the instructions.
Ingredients:
- fresh strawberries – 600 g.
- baking powder – 0.5 tsp;
- butter – 20 g;
- sugar – 90 g;
- potato starch – 20 g;
- flour – 60 g;
- eggs – 3 pcs.;
- vanilla sugar – 1 tsp.
- eggs – 5 pcs.;
- powdered gelatin – 2 tbsp. l.;
- vanilla sugar – 10 g;
- milk – 900 ml;
- starch – 60 g;
- butter (drain) – 200 g;
- flour – 35 g;
- sugar – 300 g.
Impregnation:
- sugar – 50 g;
- water – 50 ml.
Design:
- strawberry jelly – 2 bags.
Cooking method:
- Make a sponge cake: separate the eggs into yolks and whites. Beat the white part with a mixer until fluffy. Gradually add half the specified amount of sugar, continue the beating process until the mass becomes dense.
- Separately beat the yolks, adding vanilla and sugar to them. The mass should lighten and increase significantly in volume. Gradually add sweet yolks to the protein mixture, mixing everything carefully.
- Combine starch, baking powder and flour. Sifting the mixture through a sieve, add it to the sweet egg mixture, continuing to stir.
- Melt the butter, cool, carefully pour it into the workpiece along the edge of the bowl, mix everything again.
- Pour the dough into the mold, lining the bottom with parchment. Place in a preheated oven to bake for 25-30 minutes. Cut the cooled biscuit into two layers.
- Sweeten the milk and add vanilla. Boil the liquid.
- Separately mix the remaining sugar with flour and starch. Beat the eggs into this mixture and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Without stopping using the whisk, pour in the hot milk. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring all the time until air bubbles appear on the surface. Add 50 g of soft butter to the mixture and cool it completely.
- Use a mixer to turn the remaining 150 g of butter into a fluffy mass, add the custard without turning off the appliance.
- Dilute the gelatin with water and give it time to swell. After the time specified in the instructions on the bag has passed, heat the gelatin mass in a water bath until all the lumps dissolve. Gently pour the mixture into the cream, whisking constantly.
- Line a clean, dry pan, where the base was baked, with paper, making extra “sides”. Place one sponge cake on the bottom, moisten it with syrup (sugar dissolved in water). Cut the washed, dry berries in half lengthwise and place the halves close to each other along the side of the mold. Make a cream layer (reserving two spoons for the top layer). Press 7-8 whole berries into the cream. Place the second cake layer on top, press it down lightly, and pour the soaking mixture over it. Apply the remaining cream to the surface of the dessert, put the Fresier dessert in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.
- Make jelly according to the instructions, pour onto the cooled cake, return the delicacy to the cold.
- When the strawberry jelly has hardened, you can remove the cake from the mold and decorate with fresh berries and mint leaves.
Strawberry sponge cake
- Cooking time: 2 hours.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 239 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
Delicious light airy curd cake with sour cream and strawberry filling – ideal option treats for tea or coffee. If it’s not the season for fresh berries, don’t worry, because adding frozen ones won’t affect the taste. When baking, take into account the described recommendations, focus on the photo and then your cake will become a real culinary masterpiece.
Ingredients:
- eggs – 5 pcs.;
- flour – 160 g;
- sugar – 100 g.
Filling, decoration:
- strawberries – 0.5 kg.
- lemon juice – 1 tbsp. l.;
- lemon zest - to taste;
- sour cream – 0.2 l;
- sugar – 0.33 cups;
- cottage cheese – 400 g.
Cooking method:
- Beat the whites separately from the yolks and mix with sugar. When a stable foam forms, add one yolk at a time, continuing the process. After this, add flour and gently mix the mixture.
- Let the dough bake for half an hour.
- Wash the strawberries and puree them in a blender.
- Beat cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, juice and zest.
- Cut the cooled biscuit, soak each cake with berry puree.
- After 10 minutes, spread the cream onto the bottom cake layer and place strawberry slices around the edges. Cover the future cake with the second layer and repeat the cream layer again. Garnish with the remaining slices or whole berries.
Chocolate
- Cooking time: 4 hours.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 248 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
The delicacy made according to the recipe below is an excellent choice for a delicious everyday tea party and a beautiful table decoration. When choosing what to make yourself from chocolate cakes, be sure to make this one - everyone will like the bright chocolate-strawberry taste, so don’t delay baking this excellent delicacy too much.
Ingredients:
- cottage cheese – 0.4 kg;
- strawberries – 0.6 kg;
- thick sour cream – 0.5 kg;
- sugar – 200 g.
- flour – 300 g;
- soda – 0.5 tsp;
- cocoa – 3 tbsp. l.;
- eggs – 2 pcs.;
- baking powder - 3 tbsp. l.;
- milk – 250 ml;
- water – 150 ml;
- sugar – 300 g;
- oil (vegetable) – 100 ml.
Cooking method:
- Sift cocoa and flour through a sieve. Pour sugar, baking powder, and soda into the same bowl.
- Separately, beat the eggs with a whisk, pour milk and butter into the mixture. After stirring the mixture, pour it into the dry ingredients. Make the mixture homogeneous, dilute with boiling water, and beat a little.
- Cover the form with parchment, place the dough in it, and bake at 200 degrees. After 5 minutes, reduce the temperature to the optimal temperature for baking the biscuit and leave the dough for another 50 minutes.
- Remove the finished base from the mold, cool and divide into 3 layers.
- Beat sour cream with cottage cheese, sweeten.
- Place the sponge cake in a springform pan, spread the strawberries cut into pieces on top of it, then make a curd layer. Repeat with remaining products. The top cake can be filled with chocolate glaze if desired.
- Refrigerate the dessert, after 4 hours remove it from the mold and decorate.
Yogurt
- Cooking time: 60 minutes.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 71 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
The delicacy shown in the photo is not just a beautiful cake, it is also a delicious low-calorie dessert for those who are afraid of gaining weight, but really love sweets. Everyone who tastes it will remember it for a long time good combination fruit with yoghurt cream. The secret of the original taste of cheesecake lies in the addition of additional ingredients - banana and pineapple..
Ingredients:
- low-fat cottage cheese – 0.6 kg;
- gelatin – 20 g;
- zhelfix – 10 g;
- yogurt – 200 ml;
- banana – 1 pc.;
- strawberries – 300 g;
- cocoa – 40 g;
- pineapple (from a can or fresh) – 300 g;
- sweetener - to taste;
- water – 200 ml.
Cooking method:
- Add cocoa, yogurt, sweetener, crushed banana to the cottage cheese. Beat the mixture with a mixer.
- Dissolve the gelatin, leave to infuse (see the time on the bag), then mix with the curd-yogurt mixture. Place the mixture in a mold, add chopped pineapples and refrigerate.
- Finely chop or grate the berries, add crushed sweetener tablets and zhelfix. Boil the mixture for 5 minutes, constantly stirring it with a whisk. Cool.
- Pour the strawberry layer over the already hardened chocolate layer and refrigerate for 3 hours.
Custard
- Cooking time: 2 hours 15 minutes.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 245 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: European.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
Shortbread cake with a pronounced strawberry aroma is a great way to surprise guests or household members with excellent pastries. For the delicacy, shortbread dough is made, coated with custard and decorated with berries. This recipe is simple to make, but you can simplify it even further by replacing the custard with whipped cream - the dessert turns out delicious with every filling.
Ingredients:
- sugar – 230 g;
- fat sour cream – 200 g;
- milk – 400 ml;
- vanillin – 0.1 tsp;
- flour – 2 cups;
- starch - 2-3 tbsp. l.;
- egg – 1 pc.;
- water – 150 ml;
- berries – 400 g;
- oil sl. – 125 g.
Cooking method:
- Soften the butter, add 2 tablespoons of sugar, an egg, and grind everything together. Add flour little by little, knead the dough, and refrigerate for half an hour.
- Distribute the frozen base over the mold and form sides.
- Turn on the oven at 200 degrees, bake the cake until it turns golden brown.
- Boil milk, add 100 g of sugar, vanillin, pour in starch diluted with water. Cool the mixture.
- Pour the remaining sugar into the almost finished cream, add sour cream and beat the ingredients until thick.
- Place the cream into the prepared base, smooth it out with a spoon, and decorate with strawberries.
Pancake
- Cooking time: 4 hours.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 270 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
Gentle cream cheese Mascarpone is added to many desserts. Strawberry cake was no exception - an unusual ingredient gives the dish an unforgettable original taste. If you wish, you can change the recipe a little, for example, alternate strawberry and cream layers or even use berries to decorate the dessert without placing them between the pancakes.
Ingredients:
- milk – 0.6 l;
- water – 0.6 l;
- butter– 150 g;
- eggs – 10 pcs.;
- flour – 650 g;
- salt – 1 tsp.
- mascarpone – 1 package;
- egg – 1 pc.;
- cream 33% fat – 0.5 l;
- powdered sugar – 100 g;
- strawberries – 300 g.
Cooking method:
- Break the eggs and salt them. While beating the mixture with a mixer, pour flour into the same bowl, pour in water, milk, and melted butter.
- Bake pancakes in a dry frying pan - do not use oil.
- Wash the berries, cut thinly to form plates 1-2 mm thick.
- Pour the cream into a mixer bowl, beat it, combining it with powder until a creamy mass is obtained. Add mascarpone to the cream and mix gently.
- Place the pancake on a flat plate, spread a spoonful of cream over its surface, and place strawberry slices. Do the same with the rest of the pancakes, cream and strawberries.
- Decorate the top layer with the remaining cream, lay out whole berries, dust everything with powder and leave to soak in the cold for 1.5 hours.
With strawberry jelly
- Cooking time: 35 minutes.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 265 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: Polish.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
This strawberry cake recipe will become your favorite, because it is very simple and easy to prepare, and the result will impress with its impeccable taste. Let your loved ones enjoy the taste of summer - all it takes is simple ingredients and a minimum of time. To decorate the cake, you can use ice cream or whipped cream, and even with frozen strawberries, its taste will not deteriorate.
Ingredients:
- vanilla – 1 g;
- strawberry jelly – 1 package;
- semolina – 1 glass;
- sugar – 0.75 cups;
- strawberries – 0.5 kg;
- lemon zest - to taste;
- butter (sl.) – 100 g;
- biscuit cookies – 100 g;
- milk – 1 l.
Cooking method:
- Crush the cookies and place on the bottom of a baking dish lined with paper.
- Prepare thick sweet semolina porridge, add zest, oil, vanilla to it.
- Pour the hot porridge over the cookies and smooth them out. Place the washed dry berries and cool the dessert.
- Prepare the jelly as indicated in the instructions on the package, pour over the workpiece.
- Place the mold in the refrigerator for 4 hours until all layers harden well.
With strawberry jam
- Cooking time: 1 hour 5 minutes.
- Number of servings: 8 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 311 kcal.
- Purpose: for dessert.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: easy.
This recipe for strawberry cake will allow each member of your family to enjoy the combination of flavors of strawberry jam, fresh berries and delicate buttercream. If you don’t have jam, don’t worry - it can be replaced with strawberry puree: to do this, you need to mix fresh berries with sugar and grind everything using a blender or food processor.
Ingredients:
- powdered sugar – 3 tbsp. l.;
- cream – 0.5 l;
- vanillin - to taste.
- berries – 0.5 kg;
- sugar – 1/3 cup;
- eggs – 2 pcs.;
- jam – 150 g;
- vanilla extract – 1 tsp;
- flour - 1/3 cup.
Cooking method:
- Beat the eggs until light. A couple of minutes after the start of beating, sweeten the egg mass. Without turning off the mixer, add flour and vanilla extract to the same bowl. Bake the resulting dough for 15 minutes at optimal temperature ovens. Cool the cake.
- Beat the mixture of cream, powder and vanilla until fluffy.
- Soak the cake with jam and place halves of berries around the edges. Spread the cream over the entire surface, covering the berries as well.
- Place strawberry slices on top and repeat the cream layer.
- Refrigerate the cake for 2 hours. Decorate as desired.
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