fresh strawberries

The fresh strawberries are in the store now and it looks like the cold weather in Florida did not damage them very much. I was at the store the other day and I just couldn’t pass them by — I swear they were calling my name. Usually I just eat them right out of the box, but this time I was in the mood to be adventurous. So I went rummaging in my cookbooks looking for something tasty to make of these luscious berries that would do them justice. In the end I would up cobbling together stuff from four different recipes and the result was very refreshing and tasty.

Here’s what I came up with:

This is a three-part construction. There is a glaze, a cream cheese filling, and a crumb topping. I layered all three parts in small, glass serving bows and it made for a nice presentation, but you can put it together anyway that you like.

Crumb Topping:

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • some fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon oat bran
  • 1/4 cup ground pecans (optional, I just happened to have some on hand)
    Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the butter. Mix well. If it looks too dry add some more butter, but be careful as you can get too much and then it all just sticks together.

Glaze:

  1. In a saucepan crush 1 cup strawberries with a wooden spoon
  2. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/2 cup brown sugar (the recipe called for 1 tablespoon cornstarch but I think I forgot to add that)
  3. Cook over low heat, stirring until thickened and clear; set aside to cool (mine didn’t thicken, but made a nice syrup instead)

Cream Cheese “filling”:

  • In a bowl combine 8 oz cream cheese and 4 tablespoons buttermilk, blend till smooth.
  • Don’t be tempted to add sugar to this, everything else is plenty sweet.

Slice the rest of the strawberries (I had purchased a box at the grocery store, maybe 2 pints worth) and 1 or two bananas (depends upon the size of them). Fold this into the glaze mixture until everything is nicely coated.

In your serving containers layer the topping, fruit, and cream cheese mix reserving some topping for the last. I managed to get two layers of everything into my bowls.

Enjoy!

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