A glut of Strawberries

Linda32

Hello all,

We have a glut of strawberries, and I'm looking for a few ideas on using them.

I understand that the don't defrost very well after freezing, unless zapped in the blender. I've done a few like that with a view to mixing with natural yogurt. I've made some strawberry muffins and I have frozen some of those.
I put some in strawberry jelly to use that way.

Any further ideas, we will both have them as fruit in our lunch boxes but obviously won't keep beyond a couple of days.

I don't think I've got quite enough for jam and we've still got last years marmalade to use anyway.

Any further ideas please? My freezer book gives instructions for freezing as per raspberries but as I say I didn't think they defrosted very well, has anyone frozen strawberries and ended up with strawberries rarther than purree on defrosting?

Thanks

splodger_seedswapper

strawberries in my opinion - don't come out of the freezing process well - but i've had a glut this year also - and have bagged up and frozen just about all of them - but i shall make wine with mine as i've got to that stage in my life when drinking is far more enjoyable than eating :beer:

PasturesNew

An unusual Hairy Bikers' recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roasted_strawberry_and_82071

I saw them do this on the telly, so kept the url.

caitybabes

Perhaps you could make strawberry ice cream, or strawberry crumble? Or you could whizz them up and simmer with some sugar to make a strawberry coulis/strawberry sauce for putting on ice cream or with meringues and cream, or with a sponge. Mmmm you lucky thing!

P.S. I had quite a few raspberries last year so simmered them with sugar and pushed them through a sieve to make coulis. I froze it in ice cube trays and defrosted them in the microwave as and when we needed some - it goes really well with cheesecake!

kittendothroar

I have not frozen this before but with some very ripe strawberries recently I splashed over a little water and a sprinkle of sugar and zapped in microwave till softened, then ate as a puree of sorts with other things. Guessing might freeze okay for future uses!

PipneyJane

How about making fruit leather? Or drying some in the oven to go on breakfast cereal like a certain brand of strawberry crunch? I've not tried to do either but I'm sure there are instructions in the original Farmhouse Kitchen cookbook.

Linda32

Thanks all, lots of ideas, as it happens I do have the Farmhouse Kitchen cookbook. I shall go and have a look at that.


I do like the idea of the scones as well, with cheese, or does that sound rather odd!!!

florain

I am freezing mine as a conserve.

250g fruit
1&1/2 - 2 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls lemon juice
Cut fruit into 1/2 or 1/4's and put in a pan with sugar and lemon. Heat gently to simmering and cook 2/3 mins. Cool and freeze in small portions - I put a bag in a small ramekin dish and freeze that way so can be returned to dish to defrost and microwave.
We had a mix of strawberry and blackcurrant tonight with rice pudding just to make sure we would enjoy it before making up more.
It was lovely!
I bottle quite a lot of our fruit so might try small jars of he conserve as well as freezing.
Must try some gooseberry and elderflower this week.

kittycat204

I love strawberry granita, and you can make a lovely adult version with vodka.

Stephen_Leak

When they come out of the freezer, mix then into some home-made ice cream ...

ICE CREAM

Makes approx. 750ml

INGREDIENTS

300ml carton of double cream
400g tin of condensed milk

METHOD

Put the ingredients into a bowl. Mix thoroughly. Whip until it resembles clotted cream,

Gently stir in any flavouring (see below).

Put the contents into a shallow dish. Put the dish in the freezer.

Every hour or so, move the frozen bits from the edge of the dish into the middle. After about 4 hours, it should all be frozen.

ADDITIONS & ALTERATIONS

For coconut ice cream, substitute a 400ml tin of coconut milk for the double cream. Mix thoroughly.

For Malteser ice cream, add a 37g bag of Maltesers. Put it in the freezer until they are frozen. Make a small hole in the bag. With a rolling pin or any other blunt object, hit the bag until the Maltesers are completely broken up.

For strawberry ice cream, add a punnet of strawberries. Liquidise most, chop some.