A British summer without strawberries would be unthinkable.
Strawberries have been sold at Wimbledon ever since the first tournament back in 1877, when just 200 spectators came to see the Championships. In a normal year (not that we’ve had one of those for a while now) a whopping 34 tonnes of strawberries, drenched in 10,000 litres of of dairy cream, are sold to fans.
The price for a portion of a minimum of 10 strawberries and cream at Wimbledon has remained at £2.50 per serving since 2010 — not bad at all when you consider that all strawberries sold at the Championships are picked at 4am on the day that they’re sold, and transported up from Kent.
So grab your own strawberries, put Wimbledon on the television and serve up a Wimbledon-themed dessert.
Fresh strawberry & vanilla New York-style cheesecake
Serves 8-12
Ingredients
- 125g McVitie’s Hobnobs biscuits or Waitrose Vanilla Viennese Swirls
- 125g Seriously Gingery All Butter Dark Chocolate & Ginger Biscuits
- 25g butter, melted
- 600g cream cheese
- 75g caster sugar
- 4 large free range eggs
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 300g fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- Few sprigs fresh mint, finely chopped
- 170ml tub soured cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160˚C, gas mark 2. Line the base of a 23cm springform loose-bottomed cake tin with parchment paper. Place the biscuits in a food processor and whizz until fine crumbs. Tip into a bowl, add the melted butter and mix well. Press the biscuits into the base of the tin and place in the fridge to chill.
2. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar with an electric hand whisk until smooth then carefully add the eggs one at a time, with the vanilla extract, until well mixed – be careful not to over whisk. Pour the mixture onto the chilled biscuit base and bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes until just set. Turn off the heat and leave the cake to cool in the oven with the door open.
3. Meanwhile, place the strawberries in a bowl with the icing sugar and mint and toss together well.
4. When the cheesecake is completely cooled, spoon the soured cream over the top and spread to give a thin layer then decorate with the fresh, minted strawberries.
Strawberry, lychee and passion fruit pavlova
Serves 10
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 315g caster sugar
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 400g strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 8 lychees (peeled and stoned if fresh, or tinned), halved
- 2 passion fruit
- 1 tbsp light brown muscovado sugar
- 400ml whipping cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Beat the egg whites and caster sugar together with electric beaters on a high speed for 10–15 minutes, until thick and glossy. In a separate small bowl, stir the vinegar and vanilla into the cornfl our until smooth, then add to the meringue, beating for 1 more minute.
2. Line a large, flat baking tray with baking parchment, then dollop the pavlova mixture into the centre. Spread out evenly to form a 23cm circle, keeping it as round and even as possible.
3. Place the pavlova in the oven, then immediately reduce the temperature to 100°C, gas mark ¼, and bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave the pavlova inside to cool. Once completely cool, carefully transfer to a serving plate.
4. Put the strawberries, lychees and passion fruit pulp in a bowl with the muscovado sugar. Mix gently but thoroughly and leave for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Whip the cream to medium-soft peaks and spread evenly over the pavlova. Spoon over the fruit and serve at once.
Strawberry ripple shortbread slice
Makes 12 bars
Ingredients
- 400g strawberries, hulled and cut into wedges
- 2 tsp icing sugar
- 250g shortbread fingers, crushed
- 50g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 litre tub Waitrose Vanilla Dairy Ice Cream
- 2 tbsp Waitrose Cooks’ Homebaking Freeze Dried Strawberries
Method
1. Blitz 175g of the strawberries in a food processor. Add the icing sugar then press the whole lot through a sieve to make a sauce. Set aside in the fridge.
2. Mix 225g of the crushed shortbread with the melted butter. Press this mixture into the base of a baking parchment-lined slice tin, about 18 x 28cm in size. Chill for 15 minutes. Take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften slightly.
3. Smooth the ice cream over the chilled shortbread base. Drizzle with the strawberry sauce then scatter over the fresh strawberries, dried strawberries and remaining shortbread. Return to the freezer for at least 2 hours or until firm then remove and leave to stand at room temperature for 10–15 minutes before cutting into bars with a sharp knife.
Strawberry and vanilla buttermilk ice cream sandwiches
Makes 6 sandwiches
Ingredients
For the strawberry compote
- 400g strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 80g golden caster sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
For the buttermilk ice-cream
- 300ml double cream
- 80g golden caster sugar
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
- 284ml pot buttermilk, chilled
For the shortbread
- 120g unsalted butter, softened
- 55g golden caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 15g cornflour
- 160g white spelt flour, sifted, plus extra for rolling
Method
1. Start with the compote so that it has time to cool. Put the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan and set over a medium heat. Stir until the berries turn juicy and the sugar dissolves. Simmer, uncovered, for about 8-10 minutes, until there is lots of liquid and the strawberries look jammy; set aside to cool, then cover and chill until needed (you can make this up to 3 days in advance).
2. Meanwhile, make the ice cream. Put the cream, sugar and vanilla pod and seeds in a separate pan and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat, leave to infuse for 20 minutes, then remove the vanilla pod. Stir in the buttermilk, then churn in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
3. Once the ice cream has thickened and when the blade begins to slow down, add half the ice cream to a shallow, freezeproof container. Remove and discard the vanilla pod from the compote, then ripple a third through the ice cream. Spoon the rest of the ice cream on top and swirl in another third of the compote. Freeze for at least 3 hours, until solid. Chill the remaining compote.
4. For the biscuits, preheat the oven to 160˚C, gas mark 3. Using electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar together until soft and light. Gradually beat in the cornflour and sifted spelt flour until combined and the mixture begins to come together into a ball; wrap in cling film and chill for 20 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to ½cm thick. Using a 7cm, round cutter, stamp out 12 biscuits, re-rolling as necessary. Transfer the biscuits to a parchment-lined baking tray and prick each one several times with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes, until just starting to colour at the edges. Sprinkle lightly with a little more caster sugar and cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. (The biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.)
6. Sandwich slightly softened scoops of the ice cream between pairs of shortbread, drizzling with the leftover compote. To prepare in advance, sandwich biscuit pairs together with the ice cream, immediately wrap in cling film and freeze for up to 1 month before serving.
Strawberry shortcake ice cream
Serves: 10
Ingredients
- 400g British strawberries, hulled
- 1 litre vanilla ice cream
- 200g all-butter shortbread fingers, broken into small pieces
- 4 tbsp Waitrose Seriously Buttery Caramel Dipping Sauce
Method
1. Thinly slice 4 of the strawberries and roughly chop the remainder. Line a 1.5-litre loaf tin with a double layer of clingfilm, allowing for some overhang. Arrange the sliced strawberries in the base of the tin.
2. Using a large knife, roughly chop the ice cream then mix with the chopped strawberries and the shortbread pieces. Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared tin, patting down firmly so there are no air bubbles.
3. Dot the caramel sauce on top of the ice cream then cover with the remainder of the mixture, firmly smoothing over the surface. Fold over the overhanging clingfilm and place in the freezer for several hours or overnight until very firm.
4. To serve, gently lift out the ice cream and remove the clingfilm. Leave to soften for 10–15 minutes then slice thickly with a large knife.
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