Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I never, ever have to take another planetary science class. ever. Celebration Pie.

          

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

yields one 9" pie with top and bottom crusts.

Ingredients:
Crust
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons ice cold water

Filling
2 cups fresh, diced strawberries
2 cups diced rhubarb
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange zest

Assembly
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon coarse, sanding sugar

Directions:
For the crust: In a food processors, pulse the butter, flour, and salt until it resembles a coarse meal. With the processor on, slowly add the ice water and vinegar until the dough begins to hold together. Press the dough into a rough ball, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough a few times until smooth. Divide dough into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other, and flatten each slightly to make a flat disk. Wrap disks individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the filling: Toss all filling ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.

For the pie: Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll the larger disk of dough out on a lightly floured surface into an 11" round, then fit it into a 9" glass pie plate. Transfer filling to pastry bottom. Scatter the 3 tablespoons of butter in small pieces over the fruit filling. Roll the remaining disk of dough out on the lightly floured surface into a 10" round, then cover the pie, fold edges of dough under, and crimp edges. Brush top crust with milk and melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until pastry is deep golden (cover edges of crust with foil if browning too quickly), 60–70 minutes. Set pie aside to cool for several hours before serving.

Enjoy.
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Strawberry Banana Muffins

Today, in sunny Tucson, it hailed and snowed in mid-March. The apocalypse is near, my friends...

So instead of biking into work early, I decided to ride out the storm by making simple yet satisfying muffins. These muffins combine great breakfast flavors and are fairly healthy as far as muffins go, with neither butter nor sugar (agave and maple syrup instead).

Right as the muffins came out of the oven, the sky parted, I kid you not. The sun came back out, birds sang, and the ground dried up in less than an hour. Muffins FTW! I hope these little rays of sunshine make their way into your morning soon.

Strawberry Banana Muffins
adapted from Honey, What's Cooking?

yields 24 muffins

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup overripe mashed bananas (3 bananas)
1 cup milk (buttermilk would make a nice muffin, I imagine...)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chopped strawberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin trays with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon).  Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients (bananas, buttermilk, canola oil, agave, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and eggs). Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold the mixture.  Do not over-mix. Fold in the strawberries.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners (I used an ice cream scoop) until 3/4 full.  Place the muffins in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden on top. Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool.
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Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes

I recently made some de-licious strawberry curd. I spread it on almost everything: bananas, toast, cookies, even strawberries for some flavor to the max. Then, out of the blue, I had an idea...

More on that idea in a bit. First, can we please pause to praise this completely unnecessary but necessarily awesome aqua ceramic farmer's market fruit carton pictured above from Anthropologie **moment of oo-ing and ahhh-ing** 

Ok, moving on.

I had this idea to make Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes. Strawberries, cake, cream, curd, and last but not least rum all in one bite. You can thank me after you make this.

          

Here we go: A vanilla cupcake, soaked in rum, filled with strawberry buttercream, and topped off with strawberry curd and strawberries. Even presentation-wise, these are fun, and would be great for any adult gathering. The strawberry curd pops even more with bright cupcake liners and little paper umbrellas!

I will warn you: this is a project. There are many recipes and steps but I'm going to say that you could have these made and assembled in 3 hours. Don't kill the messenger! Especially the one who gives you the idea that such a dessert could exist...

How to Make Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes
Make Vanilla Cupcakes (recipe below).
Poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes with a fork.
Cut out center of cupcakes with a knife and fill with Strawberry Buttercream (recipe below).
Mix 1/2 cup simple syrup (recipe below) with 2 tablespoons of rum. Brush mixture over the cupcakes.
Spread Strawberry Curd (recipe below) on the cupcake tops. Garnish with a strawberry.
Enjoy.

RECIPES:

Vanilla Cupcakes
adapted from My Baking Addiction

yields 2 dozen cupcakes or 6 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
4 large egg whites
8 tablespoon (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and egg whites.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until the butter and sugar are very light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the ingredients are fully incorporated and the batter is smooth. Then add the last of the dry ingredients, beating until, yes, that's right, the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Using a large scoop/spoon, distribute the batter between the muffin trays, filling each muffin liner until 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 20-24 minutes for cupcakes, and 16-18 minutes for mini cupcakes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. While cupcakes are cooling, make Strawberry Buttercream...

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Strawberry Buttercream
adapted from Confessions of a Tart

yields about 1 1/2 cups frosting

Ingredients:
1 sticks (8 tbsp) of butter, room temperature
1/2 cup strawberries, pureed (I measured out the strawberries first and then pureed them)
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Cream the butter in the mixer on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes. On slow speed, gradually add about 2 cups of powdered sugar and turn back up to high for a few minutes to really incorporate the sugar. Turn to slow speed again and fold in the strawberries. Add more sugar until desired consistency is achieved. Once all the sugar is incorporated, turn to medium-high for a few minutes to mix well.

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Simply Syrup

yields 1/2 cup simple syrup

Ingredients:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:
Heat sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar has dissolved.
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Strawberry Curd

yields about 1 1/2 cups curd

Ingredients:
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons or 1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
In a food processor or blender pulse strawberries until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer to remove seeds.

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add strawberry puree, lemon juice, and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes, or until very thick, whisking constantly.

Remove from heat. Gradually add butter, whisking until melted. Let cool. Place in a jar and store in refrigerator.
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Strawberry Curd

Waste not, want not. I had some egg yolks and strawberries leftover from making those delicious Strawberry Lemonade Bars, so I decided to whip up some homemade strawberry curd.

        

 

This recipe is simple to make, and easily adaptable. So far every fruit that I've encountered would make a great flavor for curd. I've got some big plans for this creamy, pink deliciousness... so stay tuned!

Strawberry Curd

yields about 1 1/2 cups curd

Ingredients:

2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons or 1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
In a food processor or blender pulse strawberries until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer to remove seeds.

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add strawberry puree, lemon juice, and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes, or until very thick, whisking constantly.

Remove from heat. Gradually add butter, whisking until melted. Let cool. Place in a jar and store in refrigerator.

Enjoy.
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Strawberry Lemonade Bars

These little pink beauties are all that their name promises. Some how the proportions of this recipe are just so that the bars don't just taste like strawberry-flavored lemon bars, they taste like strawberry lemonade bars. Mmmmmmm...

The strawberry lemon filling will appear almost soupy when prepared but firms up quite nicely once baked. The original recipe actually called for raspberries, but I had a big supply of strawberries at the time (thanks Trader Joe!). I think blueberries and blackberries are a good compliment to lemon as well, and would make beautiful purple and fuschia colored bars...

        

I ended up splitting the recipe into two 8x8 pans. I took one into work, but am tempted to leave the second one at home... dangerous...

This recipe can be made at any time of the year if you use frozen berries instead of fresh-picked, but the flavors scream summer. Labor Day has come and gone, but it'll feel like summer here in Tucson until October... which means... I'll have to make these a few more times until then. Darn.

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

adapted from Annie's Eats

yields about 24-32 bars

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2¼ sticks (18 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

For the strawberry lemon layer:

3 cups sugar

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. lemon zest

¼ tsp. salt

3 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen, thawed

6 large egg whites

2 large eggs

1 1/3 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

*This recipe can be halved and baked in an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with a reduced baking time of 25-30 minutes for the strawberry lemon layer. 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour and salt just until incorporated.  Add the dough to the prepared baking pan.  Press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown.  Remove from the oven, maintaining the temperature.

While the crust is baking, make the top layer.  Combine the sugar, flour, lemon zest and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend.  Puree strawberries and press through a fine mesh sieve, mashing with a spatula, to extract as much juice and pulp as possible, straining out the seeds.  Add the egg whites and eggs to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend.  Whisk in the strawberry puree and lemon juice until smooth.

Pour the mixture over the crust and bake until the center is just set and not longer jiggles when gently shaken, about 35-40 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.  Cover and chill well in the refrigerator, at least 2 hours.  When ready to serve, use the parchment paper to lift the bars from the pan.  Place on a cutting board and slice into bars.  Dust the tops with confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Enjoy.

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Strawberry Basil Ice Cream

I cannot get enough basil this summer. I'll eat it with anything: pesto, caprese, pasta, frittata, and, yes, even ice cream. I was skeptical about herbal dessert, but basil ice cream is marvelously refreshing (here, basil plays a similar flavor role as mint does). Last summer I made a sweet basil ice cream topped with strawberries in balsamic syrup that went over really well with all who tried it, so when I came across this recipe that combined such great flavors, I couldn't turn away.

Strawberry Basil Ice cream is an ode to summer. The upcoming Labor Day weekend marks the official end of summer, though I have a feeling it will linger for a while longer here in Tucson. So cheers to warmer times, fresh berries, basil from the garden, and ice cream! 

Note: I took these pictures outside when it was 104 F. The ice cream doesn't look this melt-y in real life, I promise :)

Strawberry Basil Ice Cream
adapted from Cherry Tea Cakes

yields 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar plus additional for strawberries
2 cups half and half, cream, or whole milk
2 pounds strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves 

Directions:
Scald one cup of half and half along with ½ cup sugar and half of the basil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan. Remove from heat. Allow to sit for a few minutes before discarding the basil.

In a stand mixer whisk together the yolks and ¼ cup sugar until light and fluffy, then gradually pour the scalded half and half down the side of the bowl as the mixer is still going. 

Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture has thickened and will coat the back of the spoon. Remove from heat, and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Add in the remaining half and half and lemon extract. Chill the custard thoroughly. About two hours. 

Place strawberries in a bowl and dust lightly with sugar. Allow to sit for one hour. 

Puree the strawberries and push through a fine mesh sieve, and into the chilled custard. Puree the remaining basil and add into the chilled custard. Stir gently to combine. 

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Enjoy.
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Today's Photo: Strawberry Tart

Today's Photo is of the Strawberry Tart I made while in Vancouver, BC. The market down the street had beautiful strawberries that were a match for the gorgeous backyard and deck of my boyfriend's roommate (She does landscaping and indoor plant arrangements). Look at all the flowers and greenery!

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Sweet Basil Ice Cream with Strawberries in Balsamic Syrup

A massive basil plant resides in my backyard, growing faster than its leaves can be consumed. I wanted to take advantage of this abundant fresh herb as much as possible so I began searching for recipes - capreses, pestos, sauces, herb spreads galore - but then, then I stumbled across basil ice cream. Studying physics all these years must have made me gravitate towards the most nonintuitive recipe. I took a quantum leap of faith and set out to make an herb dessert.

I'm glad I did. This ice cream is sweet with a kick of flavor. I can't say that if you don't like basil, you will like this recipe, but the basil is not the only dominant flavor. Spoon after spoon of creamy, sweet ice cream, you are ever so much happier that you dropped the pasta sauce seasoning into your ice cream maker.

To make matters even more untraditional, I concocted a sweet balsamic reduction and marinated strawberries in it. We all know ice cream and strawberries go together like basil and balsamic, but the two couples are a double date made in heaven. So treat yourself, and your stomach, to this delicious treat.

Sweet Basil Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Ingredients:
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
the zest of one lemon

Directions:
Grind the basil leaves, sugar, and 1 cup of the cream in a blender until the leaves are as fine as possible.

Pour half of the mixture into a large bowl and add the other cup of cream. Place the bowl in an ice bath and place a strainer above the bowl.

Warm the rest of the mixture in a saucepan with the milk and salt. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warmed basil mixture into the egg yolks a little at a time while continuously whisking. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and constantly stir over medium heat. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Stir until cool. Pour the custard into a quart-sized container and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Freeze according to your ice cream manufacturer's instructions.
Serve (with strawberries in balsamic syrup, perhaps - recipe follows!).

Balsamic Syrup
Ingredients:
1 cup aged balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 pint strawberries, cut to your fancy
squeeze of lemon juice

Directions:
Reduce the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and lemon juice over low heat for about 10 minutes. Let cool.
Transfer to a bowl with cut strawberries, and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Pour over ice cream.  Enjoy.
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Ricotta Chocolate Tart with Strawberries

So, the original recipe for this called for kumquats, but I just couldn't handle that. The word "kumquat" is inherently hilarious. I can't say kumquat with a straight face. Go ahead. Say kumquat without giggling. There's a reason Patrick Henry didn't say, "Give me kumquats, or give me death!" No one would have taken our country seriously for as long as they did.

In order to save myself from cramping of the abdomen and a permanent fracture to the funny bone, I decided to substitute in strawberries. Any fruit would fill your need here (even, dare I say it... the k-word). How can something chocolatey, creamy, and fruity not hit the spot?

It's a simple tart that can be made on the fly, leaving you time to lay on the floor, crippled with amusement after reading the words "discombobulate", "turdiform", and "weenis"* in your dictionary.
*discombobulate (v) - to throw into a state of confusion
turdiform (adj) - shaped like a thrush
weenis (n) - slang for the extra skin on your elbow

Ricotta Chocolate Tart with Strawberries
adapted from Martha Stewart

yields 8 servings

Ingredients:
Crust
5 ounces (~24 cookies) chocolate wafers
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt


Filling
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 strawberries, thinly sliced crosswise

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Pulse wafers in a food processor (or smash if on a low-budget, low-tech life) until crumbs form. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the remaining crust ingredients (melted butter, sugar, salt). Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

To make the filling, beat together ricotta, cream, sugar, and cinnamon until fluffy.

Fold in half of the strawberries. Pour into cooled crust. Top with the remaining strawberries. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (preferably overnight) before serving.

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