Strawberry Fields Forever!

 It's time! The strawberries are ready for picking!

Hana and I had a fun morning this week picking LOTS of berries.

We went to some fields just south of our house.

The sun was warm, nice breeze, the air smelled like berries... it felt good.

We ended up with a lot!!! Now the fun begins- what to do with them all. 

I made some into sauce, for peanut butter and jelly sundaes!

I strained the berry mixture after mixing it with sugar, pureeing them and let them simmer on the stove awhile.

Peanut Butter Sundaes

1 2/3 C. half and half

1/2 C. light brown sugar

1 TBL. light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 C. peanut butter (creamy)

Vanilla Ice Cream and strawberry sauce

Bring the 1/2 and 1/2. brown sugar, corn syrup and salt to a boil over moderate high heat.

Whisk until smooth.

Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter until smooth.

Transfer to a glass jar and cool slightly.

Serve over vanilla ice cream with your homemade strawberry sauce.

Hana made strawberry cupcakes, with strawberry cream cheese frosting!!!! WOW!!!!

Delicious!!

Strawberry Cupcake Recipe

makes 12 cupcakes
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped strawberries
1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed (I did not need/use this)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt with the mixer on low speed, then gradually increase speed. Add in chopped strawberries and beat on medium speed until the strawberries break down – about 1-2 minutes. At this point, the strawberries most likely have enough liquid that you don’t need to add any milk to the batter. If you batter seems dry and is not like typical cake batter (see 1st picture above), then add milk 1-2 tablespoons at a time, beating until incorporated.
Pour into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 of the way full, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake is set. Let cool, then frost.
We used the fresh berries in it.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Hana added some of the fresh fruit- pureed in it!

enjoy!

In case you have a  few berries left, here is another recipe that I want to make this weekend.

Strawberry and Whipped Cream Pie (makes one 10-inch pie)

Crust:

1-1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

6 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Mix everything together by hand, and press firmly into a 10-inch springform pan.  The crust should also go up the sides of the pan about three inches.  Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, until it has firmed up a bit.  Let it cool while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

5 cups strawberries, washed and stems removed.

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon gelatin powder, soaked in 1/4 cup cold water

Roughly chop one cup of the strawberries and place in a small saucepan with the sugar.  Cook until reduced to a puree.  Remove from the heat, then stir in the soaked gelatin.  Mix with the remaining strawberries, then immediately pour into the cooled crust.  Spread the out so the top is level, then prepare the whipped cream topping.

Topping:

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

1 teaspoon gelatin powder

2 tablespoons milk

Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks.  Soak the gelatin in the milk for two minutes, then heat gently until dissolved.  Gradually fold the whipped cream into the gelatin, then spread on top of the strawberries.  Chill for several hours before removing from the pan and slicing.

Have a Great Weekend!!!