The French are the original seasonal eaters. They revel in what's fresh, celebrate the arrival of every fresh vegetable and fruit (even wild ones in the forest), and gorge themselveson them until their moment is over. Then they move on to the next ripening wonder.
A delicious example: strawberries. They're available most of the year, but imported, and ho-hum. But oh la la, when they come in season! The flavor is a berry wonder, heaven in a bright red package. And so on market day, I see folks carting big flats of them, heading home to preserve their fruity goodness.
So what does one do with a giant flat or two of berries? We'll need plenty of ideas for that.
Of course there is strawberry shortcake, one of my favorite desserts. I make it with sweet southern biscuits, and fresh whipped cream. But lately I've been folding those berries, right into the biscuits, for a breakfast scone. For that I drizzle some vanilla glaze over them.
The French are most likely to make a fresh strawberry tart, they like their fruit desserts very simple so the fruit comes shining through. In the tart's simplest form, they simply arrange berries on a sweet tart shell and glaze them with melted jam. To fancy it up, spread the tart with a bed of sweetened marscapone first, or on a simple custard if you prefer.
My husband's favorite: serve a bowl of berries with side dishes of creme fraiche and brown sugar, for dipping. Of course you can also go savory, with a strawberry and pecan salad, dressed with walnut oil and raspberry vinegar, or balsamic (recipe on this post).
I've been avoiding the J-word, which is what most of the French make with their berries: Jam. Though the French preserve enough stuff to stock their own bomb shelter, all that sterilizing terrifies me. My newest discovery: strawberry freezer jam! Just make a simple jam and freeze it for a bright taste of spring when the season has moved on. It takes less than half an hour!
Or maybe a strawberry cake? Wish I had a recipe for that. What are your best berry recipes?
RECIPE: Strawberry Shortcake Scones
This is adapted from an Epicurious recipe. They call for heavy cream, always yummy, but I use milk or buttermilk. If I use milk sometimes I replace a bit of the milk with a beaten egg, for richness. If you want a lemony flair, add some grated lemon zest and make your glaze with lemon juice instead of milk and vanilla.
(A TIP, that's une astuce in French: throw a little water on your counter, cover it with one piece of cling wrap and flour lightly. After you cut your scones, roll it up and pitch it. Instant clean counter!)
- 2 cups unbleached white flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (cut amount in half if using buttermilk, and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup (238 ml) heavy cream, light cream, whole milk, or buttermilk
- 1 cup of chopped strawberries (wash and dry well first)
- confectioner's sugar (icing sugar) for glaze
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Place dry ingredients in workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Pulse six times.
Distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Transfer dough to large bowl.
Stir in cream with rubber spatula or fork until dough barely begins to form. Add berries and fold until dough forms, just a few seconds.
Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Cut scones into wedges or cut with round cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet, close together. (Baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.). Bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Stir up a little glaze with confectioner's sugar, mixed with milk and a couple of drops of vanilla extract. Glaze. Serve with espresso and a smile.
RECIPE: Saucy Strawberry Freezer Jam
I'm still experimenting with this one. I've made it a couple of times, but I've skipped the pectin because I forget to buy it. Strawberries have minimal natural pectin, so without it, you've got a chunky strawberry sauce instead of a thick jam. Which suits me just fine, actually. I stir it into yogurt or spoon it over ice cream.
I was appalled at how much sugar goes into jam recipes. Yikes! I cut the sugar by a third in the recipes I found and it was still too sweet. There are lots of pectin recipes out there, (I'll try that next time), but this is what I did:
Chop up some tasty strawberries to make a generous 3 cups. Add a scant 1/4 cup of sugar and the juice of half a lemon. Put it all in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and boil for 10 minutes. Cool. Stir in a splash of brandy if you're feeling frisky. Freeze. Fini!
You can also swirl some of this jam/sauce into meringue cookies from BHG.com, pictured below. Don't these look beautiful? They'd be great at Christmas. I tried them and they were an utter failure. But that should not discourage you, as I've never been able to make a crunchy, non-gummy meringue cookie in my life. Even my mother, who doesn't really cook, can make them, nice and crisp. Sigh. Think I'll blame it on my oven.
Favorite Reads: might it be a good time to revisit the French classics? Or maybe, like me, you've missed a few. Dip into Victor Hugo with The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, or Les Miserables . Try Candide
11 thoughts on “What to Do with a French ‘Fraise””
Hi Lynn,
These recipes sound absolutely delish! We are having a great crop of strawberries right now and are growing some in our backyard garden too. I wanted to pass along a recipe that I enjoyed last week that was an orange cream topping over strawberries. Our friend, Susan, made it and I immediately asked for the ingredients so here it is for you and your readers.
1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp. grated orange rind, 1/2 cup orange juice and 1 cup heavy cream.
Combine sugar, orange rind and orange juice in small saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring only until sugar dissolves. Simmer 10 minutes without stirring. Cool completely. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form and gently fold in the orange syrup mixture. Serve over berries. You can also use it over blueberries or raspberries and use lemon juice and lemon rind instead of orange.
Enjoy!
Hello Lynn,
Or should I say…Bonjour de Villefranche sur Mer! I saw some strawberries the other day and I can’t wait to make some scones now that I read your post. I too, cut the sugar way down. I’m also going to try my hand on an olive oil cake and roast the strawberries…sounds yummy, n’est pas? Merci pour le recette! Debby
Growing up in humidity of Southern USA, I thought it was impossible to make a meringue that was not sticky in the middle. That is, until I discovered this method for making meringues which can even be made on a rainy day!
FRENCH MERINGUES
4 EGG WHITES
PINCH OF SALT
2 TABLESPOONS SUGAR + ½ CUP SUGAR
¾ CUP POWDERED SUGAR
Preheat the oven to 200. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. With an electric mixer, start at medium speed and beat for 3 minutes, then increase the speed to high and add 1 tablespoon more sugar. When the egg whites are very stiff, add the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and beat for 30 seconds longer. By hand, gently fold the powdered sugar into the egg whites
Using a pastry bag, pipe the meringue onto parchment lined (or grease and heavily flour pans) baking sheets. Place in preheated oven and bake for 2-2 ½ hours, being careful not to let them brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in air tight tin.
MaryJames dishes it out: Egg whites should be at room temperature for greater volume. Forget to get them out of the refrigerator? Just place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 or 10 minutes. Bowls and utensils used for beating egg whites must be impeccably clean and grease free. And finally, there should be not traces of yolk in the whites.
The flat roux whisk is perfect for folding egg whites. It goes more quickly and egg whites are not deflated.
Ymmm! Connie, we will try that for sure! That Susan, how did she find to time to search out new recipes?
We pass by fields and fields of strawberries for the next month or so – it’s hard to keep up with eating them, but we sure do make a good effort. Thank you for some ideas to vary our gluttony!
BEST!!
Never had a bad meal at the Allen’s, Orloff’s or McNortons! I am ready for your strawberries, fixed anyway! Hugs, Montelle
Salut Lynn,
Your reference to Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre-Dame in “Favorite Reads” reminded of another French novel entitled, “Monsieur and Madam Lapin”.
They lived in a hutch back of Notre-Dame
Lynn,today’s post is making my mouth water!!!Yum!
The only idea that I can add is a delight called Eaton Mess(which I was told was accredited to the school in England)
It features crumbled up meringue,blended with sweetened whipped cream,and in the true finale style,swirled in semi crushed raspberries(for which I substiituted strawberries),and spooned into glassses.
A book suggestion,though not as yet a classic,is called From A Paris Balcony(I believe the author is Ella Carrey)
Just a wonderful read!
We’re making strawberry shortcake this weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day, a birthday, an anniversary and all with out of town guests! Can’t wait. Think I’ll make two! We have to have enough for leftovers as that is when some of us think the shortcake is even better!
I am so glad you enjoyed it. I like it so much I just keep making it and making it……actually some in the fridge right now, it is left over from Mother’s Day. And speaking of Mother’s Day….belated good wishes to all of you, hope your day was joyful.
The freezer jam recipe brought back memories. I used to make that with my Dad, after our annual trip to Huber’s Farm in Indiana for the berries. I will make some when I get some good local strawberries. Which reminds me that I forgot to go to the farmer’s market this morning.
What crust do you use for a French tart? Would frozen puff pastry work?