Strawberries & Cream

strawbs300011

It was one of those times when I wanted a dessert quickly, one that I didn't have to bake & one that looked like I hadn't bought. I already had a gluten free sponge cake in the freezer so I made use of it. 

Ingredients

Strawberry Topping

Strawberries (min 300 g)

Caster sugar

Strawberry Ice-cream

Vanilla ice-cream (bought)

The left over strawberry pieces from the topping

Strawberry & Rosewater Jelly

Some of the Strawberry Topping (min 240 g)

Rosewater essence

Gold strength gelatine leaves

Cake

 A sponge or butter cake (can be bought)

Extra strawberries & cream

Method

Strawberry Topping

Cut blemishes off the strawberries & remove the stalk. 

Weigh the strawberries. 

Chop the strawberries finely & place them into a container appropriate for the amount.

Weigh out an equal volume of caster sugar & pour this over the chopped strawberries. Strawberries are approximately 90% water, when caster sugar is added to cut strawberries the water leaches out & dissolves the sugar. The amount of topping will be ~1.5 X the amount of sugar added. This will depend on how finely the strawberries have been cut & the length of time the strawberry & sugar mix has been left to sit.    

Stir the strawberry & sugar mix.

Let the mixture sit for at least an hour, ensure the sugar has dissolved. Stir the mixture every now & then. It will take longer for the sugar to dissolve in cooler weather. 

Pour the mixture through a sieve to separate the topping/juice from the strawberries. (Don't throw the strawberry pieces out).

Put the strawberry pieces back into the container & add water. The amount added is 1/2 of the original weight of the strawberries. Essentially you are rinsing them.

Pour this mix through the sieve into the first lot of topping. Weigh the topping & add water to make the total weight of the topping 2x the original weight of the strawberries. For example if I had 100 g of strawberries I would rinse the pieces with 50 g of water & then add water to the topping so that it weighs 200 g.    

Boil the topping for approximately 4 minutes before storing it in a clean jar. When it has cooled taste a little of the topping, is it too sweet? If so add boiled water to decrease the sweetness.   

Strawberry Ice-cream

Put the strawberry pieces left over from the topping in the fridge. Cool for ~10 mins.

After the 10 minutes is up take out some vanilla ice-cream. The amount of ice-cream will depend on two things; how many strawberry pieces were used to make the topping & how many strawberries you want in the ice-cream.

Let the ice-cream soften a little & then stir in the strawberry pieces. 

Freeze the strawberry ice-cream in the shape you will use for the dessert or in a container that will allow you to cut out the ice-cream using a pastry cutter. Line the container/mold with some plastic clingwrap & transfer the ice-cream into this. Smooth/flatten the top of the ice-cream & cover with clingwrap.

Freeze until ready to assemble. 

Strawberry & Rosewater Jelly 

Line a slice tray or other container with some plastic clingwrap. The jelly will be poured into this & then shapes cut out. The size of the container will depend on how thick you want the jelly & how much you are making.  

Soak some gold strength leaf gelatine sheets in cold water. The number of sheets used will depend on how thick you want the jelly & how much of the topping you will be using. 

For wobbly jelly set 80 - 100 ml of topping with 1 sheet of gold strength leaf gelatine.

For cutting out jelly set 60 ml of topping with 1 sheet of gold strength leaf gelatine.

For a jelly texture similar to Turkish Delight (set with gelatine) set 50 ml of topping with 1 sheet of gold strength leaf gelatine.

If the strawberry topping is cold, gently warm the amount you want to use to around ~50 C (~ hot tap water). I used 240 g of topping & set it with 4 sheets of gelatine.

Add a little rosewater essence to taste. I used 3/4 tsp for 240 g of topping.

Pick up the gelatine sheets & gently squeeze out excess water.

Put them in the warmed strawberry topping, the gelatine should dissolve almost instantaneously & transfer to the lined container. Place in the fridge to set. If need be the jelly can be melted & reset.

When set cut out with a pastry cutter (the shape is your choice).

Cake

Cut off the top & bottom of the cake.

Slice the cake through the middle horizontally. Transfer one layer to a chopping board.

Using the pastry cutter used previously cut out shapes from the cake layer. If needed, use the other layer.  

Assembling

Assemble the cake just prior to serving (I have actually assembled & then put it back in the freezer - the gelatine doesn't like being frozen but sometimes....).

Finely slice some of the extra strawberries.

Cake layer, place some of the strawberry slices on top.

Put on one layer of the jelly (an egg flip is useful for transferring the jelly) on top of the strawberries.

Add the strawberry ice-cream to the stack & another layer of cake.

Top with the jelly & pour strawberry topping over & onto the plate. Ensure there is sufficient to be soaked up by the bottom cake layer.

Serve with cream & enjoy.