~ "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." ~ "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" ~ "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." ~ "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."~

Monday, July 25, 2011

Easy Strawberry Preserves...or Strawberry Ice cream Topping


Strawberry Preserves...or Strawberry Ice Cream Topping. A couple of weeks ago or so, Mihaela from De Prin Lume Adunate posted a recipe for strawberry preserves that looked absolutely stunning! I lingered a bit and admired her photos... I loved the simplicity of the recipe and appreciated the fact that it made a smaller quantity. At the time, I didn't have enough strawberries in my garden to make the preserves. I do love eating the strawberries fresh, and I had already used some of them to make gelato.
Yet when I posted the strawberry gelato, Mihaela mentioned that if I had some more strawberries in my garden, I should try making some preserves. That morning as I went to water my garden, I spotted a bit of red in my strawberry patch. Upon further inspection, I noticed a few ripened strawberries peeking through the green leaves. It was a pleasant surprise, as I thought I'd harvested them all:). Instantly I thought.... I could make a small jar of preserves.
I just love how the strawberry flavor intensifies a thousandfold when you simply add some sugar....and in this case, the preserves were so flavorful! Nothing like the store-bought version. Ok, I may be a bit biased as I used strawberries from my own garden:)....but I loved the preserves. And what I like even better, is that you can make a small batch and not have to deal with a large quantity....though you can certainly double, triple the quantity if you like. Because it's such a simple and delicious recipe, I thought to share it. LOVED it... and I don't regret using some of my fresh strawberries to make the preserves:)! The preserves doubled up as an ice cream topping as well....simply AMAZING with vanilla ice cream! Hope you enjoy...

Tip: You can use this method with other various fruits...I made a bigger batch of peach preserves and added 1/2 cup water along with the fresh peaches allowed them to cook down and soften. I then added sugar, let it cook for 30-40 minutes or so until it thickened... and at the end added a bit of lime juice to balance the sweetness. I used 5 fresh peaches, a scant cup of sugar and juice of half a lime.
If interested in making a smaller quantity of raspberry sauce(especially good on ice cream, or over pancakes, crepes, etc.), check out my quick version which I posted some time ago. Might be worth checking out especially since the raspberry season is almost here...RASPBERRY SAUCE

You will need: adapted from De Prin Lume Adunate.
Yields a small jar....so you probably don't need to worry about it sitting in the fridge for too long:)... extremely good with bread and butter. Even better used as an ice cream topping over some vanilla ice cream.

450 grams fresh whole strawberries, cleaned and hulled
2/3-3/4 cup sugar*
* I used a scant 3/4 cup, and found it plenty sweet

Directions:
1. In a medium pot, add strawberries and heat on low heat for about 10 minutes....or until the strawberries have released most of their liquid and their color has leached out of them. Stir occasionally... gently, as you want to keep the strawberries intact as much as possible.

2. When most of the liquid has accumulated, add the sugar and continue cooking on low for about 20-25 minutes...stir occasionally, more so towards the end when it thickens.
The timing is approximate... test the thickness of the preserves, by placing a drop or two on a plate to cool after the 15 minute mark... this step isn't necessarily important, but it does give you a main idea of how thick or thin you may want your preserves to be. Cook further if it is too thin. The syrup will intensify in color as it thickens. You can also see a trail at the bottom of the pot when you drag your rubber spatula through the preserves.

3. Place in a sterilized jar and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate.


4 comments:

Mihaela said...

Ellie, I'm so happy that you liked it and thank you for the link. I love the parfum of the preserve, I'm going to have some for breakfast with some amish butter :) Have a wonderful day!

Ellie said...

Mihaela, We loved it...it's actually funny because I've had some more strawberries ripen since making this batch...and my husband said I should make another batch of the preserves:). Of course, I did...though it was still a small batch...even smaller than the first:).
The preserves smell and taste just wonderful...the Amish butter sounds good too:). Have a lovely day...and thank you again for the inspiration to make it.

Anonymous said...

Yummy. Look absolutely delicious on ice cream! Must try.

Ellie said...

Anon, Thanks, it's super delicious over ice cream... but wonderful over pancakes, on bread and butter, or with a nut butter. Hope you enjoy:)!