Strawberry Cream Recipe| Strawberries And Cream

It’s strawberry season, and I absolutely had to go ahead and use them in one of our favourite desserts – fruit cream. I made Strawberry Cream recently, and it was such a huge hit with the family!

Strawberries and cream are a classic combination, and this dessert is just the perfect foil to bring this beautiful pair together. Sweet and creamy and berrylicious, mildly tart, Strawberry Cream is a real treat to the tastebuds. It’s super easy to put together too. In today’s post, let me share with you my Strawberry Cream recipe. Try it out, and I’m sure you will fall in love with it too. 🙂

Delicious Strawberry Cream!

I love cooking with strawberries and have several recipes for the same on the blog. Here’s a basic strawberry jam and here’s a spicy one made with chilli. This strawberry and grapes salad turns out beautifully, and so does this rose and strawberry lassi. Here’s a South Indian strawberry gojju, and here’s a lovely pink strawberry kesari bath. This home-made strawberry butter and chocolate ganache tart with strawberries are great ways to use the fruit too.

Ingredients used in Strawberry Cream

Fruit cream is quite a popular dessert in Indian restaurants. It is, in effect, this simple dessert where fruits are served in a delicious, creamy base. This can be made with various types of fruits. I have started a few different variations of fruit cream on my blog so far – check out this recipe for Mixed Fruit Cream With Condensed Milk and this one for Mixed Fruit Cream With Mascarpone. This Strawberry Cream is made in a slightly different way.

This recipe needs just three basic ingredients – fresh strawberries, sugar and whipping cream. I first created a compote with strawberries and sugar, let it cool down and then mixed it with the cream – it’s that simple! And, let me tell you, it tastes ah-maa-zingg! 🙂

Strawberry Cream Recipe

Here’s how to go about it.

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

1. 250 grams fresh strawberries + 1-2 for decoration (optional)

2. 1/4 cup of sugar or as needed

3. Powdered sugar, as needed

4. 250 ml whipping cream

Method:

Top left, centre and right: Steps 1, 2 and 3, Bottom left, centre and right: Steps 4, 5 and 6

1. We will start by making a strawberry compote. Wash 250 grams of strawberries under running water and pat dry using a cotton cloth. Chop off the stems and green leaves. Chop the strawberries into small pieces and transfer them to a heavy-bottomed pan.

2. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the pan. Mix well, using your hands. Leave the pan to rest for 15-20 minutes.

3. In 15-20 minutes, the fruit would have started to release water. At this stage, place the pan on medium flame. Let it get slowly heated up.

4. Continue to cook the mixture on medium flame. The fruit will start disintegrating and thickening. Stir intermittently.

5. Mash the fruit lightly using a potato masher.

6. Switch off gas when the mixture has thickened up but is still slightly runny. Remember that it will thicken up further with time. The cooking should take 10-12 minutes in total. Your strawberry compote is ready. Allow it to cool down completely.

Top left and right: Step 7 and 8, Below top right and bottom right: Step 9, Bottom left: Step 10

7. When the compote has cooled down fully, we will begin making the Strawberry Cream. Take 250 ml of whipping cream in a large mixing bowl. Whisk gently for a few minutes, by which time it will become fluffy and thicken slightly.

8. At this stage, add in the cooled strawberry compote we prepared earlier. Mix it well into the cream.

9. Taste and add in powdered sugar if needed. Mix well. Your Strawberry Cream is ready.

10. The Strawberry Cream can be served immediately, but it tastes best when chilled for about 1/2 hour before serving. Use the additional 1-2 strawberries to decorate the dessert before serving (if you prefer).

Tips & Tricks

1. I have used regular refined sugar here, both in the granular and powdered form.

2. Adjust the quantity of sugar you use in the compote depending upon how sweet/sour the fruit is and also upon your personal taste preferences. I needed to add in a little powdered sugar later, but you may skip it if you think it is not required.

3. Use fresh strawberries that are firm and not damaged or squishy. Ideally, strawberries that are a good mix of sweet and sour work best in this recipe.

4. You may add a few drops of vanilla essence to the cream if you so prefer. I have not used it.

5. You can prepare the compote in advance and keep it refrigerated. This way, you can prepare the Strawberry Cream whenever you want to, within minutes. The compote stays well for at least a month when stored refrigerated in a clean, dry, air-tight box.

6. Remember to keep the compote on the runnier side. It will thicken up further with time. If it gets too thick, you will not be able to stir it well into the cream.

7. When the strawberries aren’t even a bit sour, the compote can turn out too sweet. In that case, you may add a dash of lemon to the compote after it has been cooked and the gas has been switched off.

8. I have not pureed the strawberries, so that we get little chunks of the fruit while eating the dessert. If you so prefer, you may puree the fruit completely, like I have done in my Strawberry Jam recipe here.

9. If you have home-made strawberry jam ready, you can use it to make this Strawberry Cream instead of making the compote from scratch. I have done so quite a few times actually, and been very happy with the results. In that case, I like chopping up a couple of large strawberries and adding them to the cream just before serving. Store-bought jam is thicker due to the addition of pectin and I’m not sure if it would yield itself just as well to the making of this dessert – I prefer using home-made jam or compote only.

10. Use good, heavy cream to make this dessert. I have used Amul whipping cream here. Since I have used a wire whisk, the cream did not get too thick after whisking. If you are using an electric beater, you might want to beat the cream till it gets stiff peaks. I rather prefer the former. With the addition of the strawberry compote, the whisked cream turned just the right amount of thick.

Did you like this recipe? Do tell me, in your comments!

Kobichi Koshimbir| Maharashtrian Cabbage Salad

Kobichi Koshimbir refers to a delicious cabbage salad from the state of Maharashtra. Juicy and fresh and full of flavours, this salad is an absolute delight. It has been one of the most requested recipes on my Instagram page lately.

I have been sharing pictures of my daily home-made meals on my Instagram stories, in an endeavour to keep myself motivated to eat clean. I am thrilled with the attention they have been receiving, readers writing in to say how much the simple dishes cooked with seasonal ingredients have inspired them. It has been a pleasure to see more people cooking healthier meals, getting fitter in a little way. After I shared a snippet about Kobichi Koshimbir a few days ago on Instagram, many asked for the recipe – so here I am! Scroll down for the detailed proceedure.

Kobichi Koshimbir or Maharashtrian Cabbage Salad

Kobichi Koshimbir – ingredients and a little backstory

Kobichi Koshimbir, like I mentioned above, is a cabbage salad from Maharashtra. Fresh cabbage is chopped up, mixed with finely chopped coriander and green chillies, salt, a dash of sugar, coarsely crushed roasted peanuts and lemon juice. The peanuts provide the crunch factor to this mildly spiced and lemony salad.

I follow the recipe taught to me by Richa Chitgopekar, a passionate and talented cook and regional food enthusiast. Richa says, and I agree, “Use tender winter cabbage for this salad. The type that is green on the outside.” Mature cabbage just doesn’t cut it.

Some families add a bit of grated coconut to this salad, too, as well as mustard, asafoetida and curry leaves tempered in a little oil. I usually don’t, as I prefer to keep it oil-free.

Now that I have prepared the Kobichi Koshimbir a few times, vague memories of my grandmother making it at home are starting to come back. My paternal grandmother, N Paati, was a Marathi food lover, and would cook several dishes from the cuisine. She was my first point of introduction to the brilliant repertoire of dishes that Marathi cuisine has to offer. Shevgyacha Shengachi Amti, Aambe Dal, Tendli Masale Bhaat and Dadpe Pohe are some other Maharashtrian recipes on the blog.

Kobichi Koshimbir isn’t very different from Thai salad, come to think of it. The ingredients used are almost the same, and so is the flavour profile. Well, whatever the origin, I can definitely vouch for the fact that this is one lip-smackingly delish thing!

How to make Kobichi Koshimbir

Here is how to put the salad together, a process that takes well under 20 minutes. I have reproduced Richa’s recipe here, with her permission.

Ingredients (serves 1-2):

1. 2 cups fresh cabbage, chopped medium fine

2. 2 tablespoons peanuts

3. 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste

4. Salt to taste

5. 1 green chilli or to taste

6. 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander

7. Juice of 1/2 lemon or to taste

Method:

Top left: Step 1, Top right, below top right, bottom right and bottom left: Step 2

1. We will start by roasting the peanuts. Dry roast the peanuts in a heavy-bottomed pan on medium flame for 4-5 minutes or till they start getting dark spots. Transfer the roasted peanuts to a plate and allow them to cool down completely.

2. In the meantime, take the chopped cabbage in a large mixing bowl. Add salt and sugar to taste. Rub nicely with your hands for a couple of minutes, so the salt and sugar get well incorporated into the cabbage.

Top and bottom left: Step 3, Right top, centre and bottom: Steps 4, 5 and 6

3. When the roasted peanuts have fully cooled down, transfer them to a small mixer jar. Coarsely pulse them and add to the mixing bowl.

4. Chop the green chilli very finely and add to the mixing bowl. Add in the finely chopped coriander too.

5. Add in the lemon juice.

6. Mix everything well together. Your Kobichi Koshimbir is ready. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes for all the flavours to meld together, then serve immediately. This salad can be had on its own, but it also makes for a lovely accompaniment to rotis. It can also be served as part of a full-fledged Maharashtrian thali meal.

Is this salad vegan and gluten-free?

This Kobichi Koshimbir is completely vegetarian and vegan, suited to those following a plant-based diet. It is gluten-free as well.

Tips & Tricks

1. For best results, use cabbage that is tender and fresh. Mature cabbage does not taste the same.

2. I prefer chopping the cabbage finely. You can even chop it into long slivers if you so prefer.

3. Make sure the peanuts are well roasted before adding them to the salad. Take care to ensure that they do not burn while roasting.

4. The roasted peanuts should be crushed coarsely and not ground to a fine powder – use the ‘Pulse’ feature on your mixer to do this.

5. Adjust the quantity of salt, sugar, green chillies and lemon juice as per personal taste preferences.

6. Make sure the green chilli is chopped really fine, so you don’t get big bites of it while eating the salad.

7. I have used regular refined sugar here. It gets well integrated into the cabbage when you rub it with your hands. You may use powdered sugar if you so prefer.

8. You can add a tempering of mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves to the salad if you want to. I didn’t, because I wanted to keep it oil-free. Avoid the asafoetida in case you want to keep the salad gluten-free – this is because most Indian brands of asafoetida contain wheat flour to a lesser or greater extent.

9. Some families add about a tablespoon of fresh grated coconut to the salad too. I have skipped this.

10. Do not let the Kobichi Koshimbir sit around for too long after making it. This causes the salad to become watery. It is best served after about 10 minutes of making it.

Did you like this recipe? Do tell me in your comments!