This is a nifty trick for when you’re looking for more jammy flavoured strawberries. I discovered this technique as a university student along with learning to flambé fruit. I’d go to the weekend markets in Perth on a Sunday close to the end of the day and purchase entire cases of fruit at a steal. Macerating them enabled me to stretch the use of the copious quantities of strawberries over many days.
These are lovely with freshly whipped cream on a meringue nest–which you could call a pavlova if your meringue base turned out right, or an Eton mess if it didn’t. They’re also fabulous stirred into plain yoghurt, or drizzled over ice cream, granola, pancakes or waffles. You could serve them with cake or French toast, place them in a tart or, or enjoy them neat. And with the softest fruit, we blitz them in the blender. The purée is fabulous in homemade strawberry milk (see video above) and milkshakes.
This recipe is highly adaptable. Adjust it to your preference. If I wasn’t feeding this to children, I’d toss in some Grand Marnier along with the sugar. It’s also so simple to prepare that it has become a bit of a weekend ritual for our family.
Macerated strawberries
700g washed and hulled strawberries
100g castor sugar
1 calamansi
Roughly dice or chop strawberries. We prefer firm fruit for this purpose. Soft, ripe strawberries are fab eaten as they are.
Add sugar (we use vanilla castor sugar, adjust quantity to suit your taste). Gently toss with a spoon until evenly coated.
Squeeze some calamansi, lime or lemon juice (adjust to taste) and toss to coat evenly.
Transfer to a clean, sterilised jar, seal and refrigerate.
The strawberries get softer the longer they stand. When they are much softer (up to 3 days), we puree the fruit and use them in homemade strawberry milk or milkshakes.
Strawberry milk
(See video above.)
Strawberry fruit
Strawberry syrup
Milk
Strain the fruit, retaining the juice/syrup. Purée in a blender or food processor.
Pour purée into a glass, top with syrup and milk. Stir and adjust to taste. Serve immediately.
About Su-Lyn Tan
Su-Lyn is Aun's better half and for many years, the secret Editor behind this blog known to readers simply as S. Su-Lyn is an obsessive cook and critical eater whose two favourite pastimes are spending time with her three kids and spending time in the kitchen. She looks forward to combining the two in the years to come.
