When the Garden Gives You Strawberries...
June is strawberry season at my house! While I love berries, I was picking close to 3 gallons of strawberries every week. I hate to see any go to waste as I picked and picked and picked. Luckily, strawberries are versatile and I enjoy cooking. My two big hits were my strawberry shortcake tart and my strawberry jam. The tart is always a hit at a summer get together (and pretty easy) and the jam can be canned to save for those winter months were the garden isn't so productive.
Also, I didn't pick unripe strawberries (well, maybe a couple on accident). The white berries are pineberries! They have a hint of a tangy, pineapple flavor. I'm hoping next year I'll harvest enough to do a pineberry jam.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE TART
Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cups flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Mix all ingredients together. Press into tart pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Make 1 crust.
Pastry Cream:
1 cup milk
1/8 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 egg
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (just a vanilla bean if available)
In a saucepan, combine milk and 1/8 cup sugar. Bring to a boil. In a bowl, whisk together all eggs. Combine remaining sugar and corn starch and then add to eggs. Whisk until smooth. When milk mixture boils, slowly add to egg mixture. (You don't want to cook the eggs by adding too quickly.) Return mixture to saucepan and slowly return to a boil. Stir frequently to avoid burning the bottom. When it comes to a boil, it'll also begin to thicken. Once it thickens, remove from heat and add in butter and vanilla. Mix to combine. Cover with cling wrap directly on the surface to avoid a skin forming. (Like with pudding) Refrigerate until chilled.
Assembly:
Cool crust and filling completely. Once cooled and chilled, add pastry cream into crust evenly. Top with sliced strawberries (or any other fruit)! I like to use cookie cutter to cut shapes out of any scrap dough left over from the crust to decorate the top. Fresh whipped cream could also be added!
STRAWBERRY JAM
5-6 cups strawberries
3-4 cups sugar (more or less to taste)
1 lemon, juice only
1 packet pectin
Wash and hull berries. Combine berries, lemon juice, and pectin into a large pot and bring to a rapid boil. Slowly add sugar. Return to a boil. You can test how thick it is using a spoon. Once its cooked down enough/thicken to your liking, it's ready to can!
ENJOY!
