Strawberry Topping

It was one of those really hot weeks in summer.

I didn't want to cook - at all.

My strawberry patch wasn't happy with the weather either. Some of the strawberries seemed to be cooking on the plant & others were being kissed by slugs.

Great!

My daughter loves strawberries but not ones that have been kissed (nibbled) by creepy crawlies. What could I do with them that didn't involve cooking & only required minimal input from me. The following strawberry topping is the result & it is very easy. 

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Ingredients

Strawberries

Caster sugar

Method

Cut blemishes off the strawberries & remove the stalk. 

Weigh the strawberries.

Chop the strawberries finely & place them into a container appropriate for the amount.

Weigh out an equal volume of caster sugar & pour this over the chopped strawberries.

Stir the strawberry & sugar mix.

Let the mixture sit for at least an hour. Stir the mixture every now & then.

Pour the mixture through a sieve to separate the topping/juice from the strawberries. (Don't throw the strawberry pieces out)

Put the strawberry pieces back into the container & add water. The amount added is 1/2 of the original weight of the strawberries. Essentially you are rinsing them.

Pour this mix through the sieve into the first lot of topping. Weigh the topping & add water to make the total weight of the topping 2x the original weight of the strawberries. For example if I had 100 g of strawberries I would rinse the pieces with 50 g of water & then add water to the topping so that it weighs 200 g.    

Store the topping in a clean jar in the fridge. 

If you have a large quantity of strawberries & would like to keep the topping for a while, boil the topping in a saucepan for approximately 4 minutes before storing it in a clean jar.  

 

The recipe for the Strawberry & Rosewater Hearts can be found in the dessert section in Strawberries & Cream. Alternatively take some of the boiled strawberry topping add a little rosewater to taste & set it with leaf gelatine.

For wobbly jelly set 80 - 100 ml of topping with 1 sheet of gold strength leaf gelatine.

For cutting out jelly set 60 ml of topping with 1 sheet of gold strength leaf gelatine.

For a jelly texture similar to Turkish Delight (set with gelatine) set 50 ml of topping with 1 sheet of gold strength leaf gelatine.