ref=”https://thinktasty1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/strawberry-cream-400×400.jpg”>
Since my recipe last week was so loaded with sugar, I challenged myself to make this week’s without any. Strawberries on their own don’t really need any sweetening, but since I had also decided to use sour cream I knew I’d need something to sweeten the mix. Mānuka honey ended up filling that role, and I finished with a touch of ginger for a little zing.
Full disclosure: I was hoping the sour cream would keep its thickness and this would come out something like a whipped dessert topping — as you get when you mix sour cream and sugar. But all that strawberry juice and honey took its toll, and it ended up more the consistency of salad dressing. That’s fine, however — fruit salad needs dressing too, and this is a good sweet one, without any sugar at all.
(Wikipedia says most of what’s sold as Mānuka honey isn’t, strictly speaking. The beekeepers can’t force their bees to feed only on Mānuka trees. You may hear about the honey’s medicinal effects, but they’re unproven too. The stuff I’ve got has a strong honey taste, and that’s enough for me.)
Remember my strawberry syrup from last week? It’s not just for pancakes; you can use it to make strawberry lemonade. Just put half a cup of it in a quart jar with half a cup of lemon juice, fill the jar with water and mix. You may want to add a little sugar, but taste it first and see.
Something else I discovered this week: melon muffins. These are simply circles of watermelon (or other melon) cut out with a biscuit cutter and garnished with a creamy topping. I had to try this myself, of course, since it was so simple and would look so much better than just a slice or wedge of melon, and since we had a ton of cantaloupe in the fridge, and since I was making a topping that would go nicely with it. You can see how it came out in the photo — I probably don’t have to tell you to eat this muffin with a spoon.
- 1 cup sliced strawberries (about 5 or 6 large berries)
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- In a food processor, blend the strawberries and sour cream. It’s okay to leave a few chunks.
- In a small vessel, stir the honey and ginger together.
- Add the honey mixture to the strawberry mixture and process for a few seconds.
- Chill.
