The best strawberries I have ever eaten were in England. It was the start of the strawberry season and we were not far from the local Pick-Your-Own. Margaret wanted to stock up her frozen fruit supplies so she could continue to make strawberry jam through the winter months. The Princess was still quite young at only four but we figured she would enjoy the outing. So with baskets and boxes in hand we ventured off for an afternoon of picking fruit.
It soon became apparent why the English are obsessed with fresh strawberries. They were large and juicy, and full of flavour. Quite a few found their way into our mouths rather than into the baskets. Yet we still carried home kilos of fresh fruit. Margaret placed the full baskets on the back table whilst she made space in the freezer. Years later I can still picture that sunny corner and smell the incredible aroma that filled the room.
Every strawberry I have eaten since has been a disappointment. The flavour and aroma of those English beauties remains unrivaled. Yet I continue to buy them in hope (and also because Mr Grumpy and The Princess quite like them). Nothing spoils the taste and aroma of fresh strawberries like refrigeration, so I have taken to keeping them on the bench when I bring them home. It then becomes a race to see if we can eat them all before they start to rot.
A few weeks ago Mr Grumpy left town for work, and without thinking I bought my standard kilo of fruit. There was no way The Princess and I were going to get through them all. In an effort to preserve them just that little longer I chopped the whole lot up, tossed them with maple syrup, cinnamon (strawberries pair with cinnamon surprisingly well) and vanilla. I threw them in the oven with no real plan, and allowed them to roast just until the fruit softened and the juices started to weep.
I am a fan of cooked strawberries (dutch baby anybody?) but was unprepared for how good these actually are. This is now my standard treatment for strawberries. Roasted, strawberries last well in the fridge (at least 3 days, if they are not all eaten first) with no impact on flavour. They are ready to be dolloped on muesli and yoghurt for breakfast, or dished up with cream for dessert (I am partial to the latter myself). Whilst they still remain second best to their English cousins, I have found a new way to enjoy strawberries. At least until I get back to England.
Roasted Cinnamon Strawberries
The uses for these strawberries are limitless. Eat them for breakfast on panckaes or waffles, drizzle them over pavlovas or cheesecakes, or serve straight up with cream. The choice is yours.
I use a 22cm sqaure by 5cm deep pan to roast these strawberries. Don't use anything too shallow or they will dry out without producing lots of yummy juice.
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram strawberries hulled and halved (or quartered if large)
- 1 - 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 vanilla pod split and the seeds scraped into the dish
- Cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan forced)
- Place the strawberries in a large oven proof dish.
- Sprinkle over the cinnamon and a small amount of cracked black pepper.
- Drizzle over the maple syrup.
- Stir thoroughly to combine.
- Tuck the vanilla pod under the strawberries.
- Place the tray in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove the strawberries from the oven and stir thoroughly.
- Return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
- Remove the strawberries from the oven and stir again.
- You can eat these straight away but they are actually better the next day.
Notes
Do you think it’s the variety of strawberry or the soil we have in Australia? I really like the strawberries with cinnamon. 🙂
I’m not really sure Maureen. Here in WA we have really sandy soils, so that is probably a major contributing factor. That and it is possibly not the ideal climate for growing strawberries. I have had some decent ones from Albany, which is a slightly cooler growing environment, so it is probably a number of different factors combining to effect the taste.
Interesting post! Peter and I are harvesting a bumper crop of sweet-tasting strawberries from our patch this year… they really, really are good! Have you ever eaten freshly picked Qld strawberries? They are fabulous too. Love this recipe, really lovely!
I saw your bumper crop Liz and was very, very jealous. We have never had much success growing them at home. I have never seen anything other than WA strawberries here, possibly because we have quite a large industry that appears to be servicing all our requirements. I will look Qld strawberries next time I am on the east coast.
English strawberries sound amazing. We have a strawberry farm nearby that offers a ‘pick your own’ service. We’ve picked them a few times ourselves just for the experience (a very enjoyable one) but now when it’s strawberry season we just stop and their and purchase the pre-picked ones. They’re fresher, bigger, juicier and far tastier than the ones you find in the supermarket.
I love strawberries raw, sliced up with a banana, sprinkled with desiccated coconut and, depending on whether it is breakfast or dessert, finished with a dollop of yoghurt or a little fresh cream – yum!
Sarah xx
Farm direct are always best aren’t they Sarah. I love the idea of the coconut sprinkled over the banana. Yum!
Hi Tania
Would this be suitable for making into a puree and using in home churned icecream? I want to keep it frozen for sometime (like a couple of weeks!), but not sure about the water content causing crystals. Or perhaps you have another recipe? Ta 🙂
Jude
Hi Jude. I think it would be fine in homemade ice cream. You’ve now given me ideas 🙂 Any homemade ice cream will develop ice crystals over time. I’ve even had straight vanilla go icy after a week. I don’t know of any strategies to prevent this happening other than making the ice cream close to when you wish to serve it, and eat it quickly 😉 You could use my raspberry ice cream as a base but it will still go icy over time.
This recipe looks great! I can’t wait to try this! I think I might make this with blackberries instead of strawberries. Do you think it would turn out as well? I just wanted to stop by and say that I love your blog, and your photographs are amazing. Especially this recipe! I love anything with fresh vanilla bean caviar!
I recently made a cooking and baking blog, too.
http://kcolescreativecorner.com
I would greatly appreciate it if you would check it out!
Thanks so much!
Thanks for your kind words 🙂 I have no idea if it would work with blackberries. We don’t get fresh blackberries here and I have only made this recipe with fresh strawberries. Let me know if you try it.
Love your food photography and details, really helps,
thank you so much for sharing
Thank you for your lovely comments Heghineh 🙂