Fresh strawberries now and later
Enjoy them now or freeeze them for a delicious treat during colder weather
There is a season for every field or garden crop, and for Island strawberries that time is early July.
Pop them into your mouth whole, fill a pie shell with them, stir them into yogurt, spoon over ice cream, soak them into shortcake. Have your fill of berries while they’re in season, and squirrel some away for later.
There are two schools of thought about shortcake: cake lovers and biscuit fanciers. I fall into the latter group and use my mother’s recipe. Generally, I embellish it by sprinkling sliced almonds and/or sunflower seeds on top before baking, and sometimes I replace half the white flour with whole wheat.
I have made it using soft margarine instead of butter, stirring it in quickly as it is too soft to cut in properly. Although I think it turns out a little better when made with butter, this is definitely an option.
Annabel’s Shortcake
500 mL (2 cups) all purpose flour 15 mL (1 tbsp) baking powder 25 mL (2 tbsp) sugar
90 mL (6 tbsp) cold butter 1 egg, well-beaten
175 mL (¾ cup) milk
Preheat oven to 220 C (425 F). Whisk flour, baking powder and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or two knives. Combine beaten egg and milk, and gradually add to dry ingredients, stirring lightly with a fork. Mix until a soft dough is formed. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times.
Place dough in a greased 22 cm (8 inch) pie plate or square cake pan, and pat in place. Brush top with milk or egg white if desired. (This is where I add nuts or seeds.) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Serve with sweetened strawberries (or other juicy fruit or berries) and whipped cream.
While I do love whipped cream, on the weekend I topped my shortcake with a lemony yogurt topping made by draining plain yogurt (not Greek) for a few hours to thicken and stirring in the grated zest of a lemon and sugar to taste.
You can freeze strawberries with or without sugar.
The no-sugar option is easiest. Wash the berries in cool water, drain well and remove hulls. Spread berries on a tray or baking sheet and put in the freezer until firm before bagging them. Store them in freezer bags or other moisture and vapour-proof containers and pour out what you need during the winter for making smoothies or scattering over breakfast cereal.
Freeze strawberries with sugar, and they are almost ready to serve with shortcake. Just let them defrost and they’re ready to serve. You can leave them whole or halve, slice or crush them depending on your taste. Stir in sugar at a rate of 125 mL (½ cup) per litre (4 cups)
of whole berries or 175 mL (¾ cup) per litre (4 cups) of halved, sliced or crushed berries, and let stand for around 15 minutes before freezing to allow juice to be drawn out. Adjust the amount of sugar to your taste. It helps preserve the colour of the berries, but it is not necessary for food safety.
If you’ll be using frozen strawberries in a particular recipe, you can freeze them in the amount the recipe calls for. Label them appropriately, and you’ll have made things a little easier for yourself.
Straight-sided glass bottles are good for freezing berries in, particularly juicy ones packed with sugar. Because glass bottles don’t stretch as the berries expand during freezing, you need to leave headspace to prevent breakage. For liquid pack (such as strawberries frozen with sugar) in containers with a wide mouth, leave headspace of 1.5 cm (½ inch) in 500 mL (pint) jars, and 2.5 cm (1 inch) in litre (quart) bottles. When using containers with a narrow top opening, allow 2 cm (¾ inch) in 500 mL (pint) jars, and 3.75 cm (1½ inches) in litre (quart) bottles.
The quality of frozen foods is best when they can freeze quickly. When freezing larger quantities of berries, such as a flat of strawberries, leave space between the containers to allow for air circulation, then pack them close together after they have frozen.
A little work now allows you to enjoy Island strawberries year-round.