STRAWBERRIES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 446, 9 January 1948, Page 15

STRAWBERRIES

T is a good season for strawberfies this year. Hefe are some suggestions for serving them now and for preserving them for later on. Actually it seems a pity to try to "glorify" them in any way, for fresh, strawberries and plain cream (not ice-cream) are surely an ideal dish, However, strawberry shortcake is a lovely dessert-and ekes out the berries, too. Strawberry Shortcake This is really extravagant; you will have to savé the top-tmilk from several bottles to get the cream, For the butter you can use half cod-fat and half butter. To prepare the befries: Cut. strawberries in half. Préparée a syrup by boiling together 2 ciips sugar and 4% ctip water for 4 minutes. Cool and pour over berries. When the shortcake is cooked, lift the hetties out and place between and on top of cake. Serve the syrup with each portion of shortcake as dessert. You may colouf this syrup with red colouring, and add strawberfy essence to taste, befofe serving. The syrup may be made with honey instead of sugar-142 cups honey to % cup water, boiled as above. The Shortcake: Sift together 2 cups flout; 44 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons baking powder. Rub in lightly 2 tablespoonfuls butter. Add 1 cup top-milk (light ctéam) and mix (with a knifé or fork) to a soft dough. Tutn on to floured board, knead just slightly, and divide into 2 patts. Pat out each half into a round shape 4% inch thick, lay one piece on greased oven slide, brush over with a little soft butter, and place the other half on top. Bake in hot oven appfoximately 15 to 20 minutes. Then place on hot serving-plate, remove top half, spread with a little soft butter, and then a generous layer of prepared berries. Sift icing sugar over, replace the top half, cover it also with berries, sift icing sugar over. You afe now supposed to cover with whipped. cream flavoured with orange essence and sweetened a little; but even without this final extravagance you have a lovely party dessert. Strawberry Dainty Make yotir favourite sponge-cake-two layers. Make up a strawberry jelly, and when setting, whip up with eggbeater to make it fluffy. When quite cold and set, put the jelly between the layets as a filling, adding a few mashed strawberries. Now cut out a big circle ftom the top layer of sponge, and fill up the cavity with strawbefries mashed with castor sugar. Spread with whipped

cream (you can gét quite enough from 3 milk-bottles) and arrange a few whole strawberries for decoration, Strawberry Dessert Cake (American) Sprinkle 4% cup stigar over 4 éups sliced frésh strawberries and let stand anh hour or two. Meanwhile, sift together 2 cups flour, 2 good teaspootis baking powdet, 6 tablespoons sugar and % teaspoon salt. Blend in third of a cup shortening with tips of fingers, and mix all with 1 large egg, beaten, and added to two-thirds of cup milk. Spread this mixture in a greased pan or meatdish (should. be 14% inth deep pan). Now spoon the prepared berries and juice over top of the mixture. Blend together quarter ctip softened bitter, quarter cup sugér and 3 tablespoons flour. Drop this mixtufe by spoonfuls over the strawberries. Bake 35 to 40 minutes (approximately) in moderate oven (about 400 degrees or regulo 6). Serve warm with cream. Strawberry Pavlova ’ Make the Pavlova by whipping up, in a DRY basin, 3 égg-whites, adding gradually 2 tablespoons sugar to each white. When very stiff (will hold its shape) pipe it out-through a cone sha from greaseproof paper-into an Oval shape high at the sides, so that it forms a kind of shallow dish. You cat just affange it with a spoon instead of piping it, if you wish. Many people like to set it on greaseproof paper, either dry or wetted with cold water. Put in oven at 250 degrees and turn off heat. Léave till cold, without opening doors A pitch of alum added to the beaten mixture makes it dryer. Fill the Pavlova with hulled strawberries, which may have been soaked in sherry if for a special occasion, but are just as lovely in their own freshness, and sprinkled with castor sugar. Serve this on a pretty dish, with strawberry leaves arranged all round. Strawberry Pie This is absolutely marvellous. Hull the strawberries and sprinkle with castor sugar-enough to fill an ordinary, fairly deep, pie-dish. Some people think a dash of cinnamon improves this-only ¥% teaspoon cinnamon to a cup of castor sugar. Add a squeeze of lemon-juice. Cover with a rich pie-crust, slash across once or twice, and bake as usual. Raspberries also make a lovely pie, of raspberries and red-currants together, or raspberries and loganberriés. Strawberry Jam Heat the berries and the sugat (equal quantities) in oven until almost too hot to bear the hard in. Then take out and stir together for 5 minutes (by the clock), Leave to stand for 15 minutes then stir again for 5 minutes. Leave again for 15 minutes and then stir for 5 minutes, pot and seal. Thus the fruit and sugar have 15 minutes actual stirring, with two intervals,