Bakin-n-Bacon

Building a Better Berry

Last year I talked about the goodness of the strawberries I purchased straight from the grower. Alas, we have moved and I no longer have access to those fresh berries, and I had to leave my strawberry plants behind as well. So this year I am relegated to the same berries at the supermarket with which most people are familiar.

Upwards of 90% of the strawberries sold in the United States come from California, and most are the same variety, chosen more for their sturdiness for shipping than for taste or aroma. Nonetheless, starting this time of year even those lackluster strawberries are at their peak of flavor. Still, they do not measure up to the sweetly perfumed varieties grown by home gardeners and small farmers.

So how does one make the best use of what is available to them? The farmer's markets here are but a wishful thought at the moment, and my white chocolate cheesecake begs for a luscious strawberry topping. The answer is simple and easy. Slice your supermarket berries into a bowl. Add about 1/4 cup brown sugar per pounds of berries (any kind will do, but if you use muscavado or another dark brown sugar it's even better) and toss berries to coat. Let the berries sit, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 hour. Stir in a tablespoon (or two) of Chambord, Kirsch, or your favorite liqueur. Drain the liquid into a small saucepan and simmer rapidly until the liquid is reduced by about half. It should be thickened and syrupy. Let it cool for a few minutes and recombine with the strawberries. Serve over shortcakes, cheesecake, angel food cake or pound cake. Yum.

When Life Hands You Lemons,

Make lemonade lemon curd. Lemon curd is one of my all-time favorite dessert building blocks. You can put it in a tart, meringue shell, use it as a filling for cakes, flavor buttercream, but of course my favorite way to enjoy it is with a very large spoon while it's still warm.

Lemon curd is a close relative to the filling in lemon meringue pie, but richer and denser. It's quite easy to make, and freezes well, so I like to make a double (or triple) batch so I always have some on hand.

Although you can buy decent lemon curd in the store, it's much cheaper to make at home, especially if you get a bag of lemons on sale.

A long discussion about different lemon curd recipes can be found on the egullet.org website. Some people have found that they get a metallic aftertaste in their lemon curd. This happened to me once, and I have no idea what caused the aftertaste. I am careful to use only high-quality stainless steel pans and whisks, because aluminum pans and utensils can impart a metallic taste to foods high in acid like lemons or tomatoes. There are some theories about the proportions of lemon juice to sugar accounting for a metallic aftertaste, but I don't know of a clear rule. Since I have made lemon curd many times I just consider it a random aberration based perhaps upon the quality of the juice. At any rate, be sure to use stainless or other nonreactive utensils when making lemon curd and you should be just fine.

After trying several of the recipes mentioned on the eGullet thread, my favorite is one from the finecooking.com website. It's a free recipe, no registration required. It's the one that accompanies the Scottish shortbread recipe (oh yeah, lemon curd is a great spread for shortbread, too). I do make a significant change to the recipe, however. I don't use their method at all, especially avoiding the instruction about whipping the butter and sugar together. I see no point in creaming the butter and sugar together, making it all light and fluffy, only to melt the butter later on. Therefore I use the standard method, where you whisk the lemon juice, sugar and egg yolks together in a saucepan, then heat until the curd is thickened leaves a streak when you lick swipe a strip off the spoon (170 degrees for those with a thermometer). Don't let it boil or you will have a curdled curd.

I strain my curd through a fine mesh strainer for the ultimate smooth finish, then stir in lemon zest and butter for the final flavor and texture enhancements. Buy a bag of lemons and make lemon curd today!