Have you been watching Wimbledon? Haven’t the Brits been doing well this year? Scrap that – I’ve just watched Murray get knocked out!
Nothing says Wimbledon fortnight more than strawberries & cream. I’ve adapted a Nigel Slater recipe to create a little twist on the classic – vanilla cream with red berries.
I planned on using our home and allotment-grown strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants, but we didn’t have a large enough quantity that were ripe all at the same time. I made a quick trip to the supermarket for a punnet of strawberries to bulk up our rations.
Slater used orange juice and passion fruits in the original recipe. However, I used a few glugs from a bottle of grenadine syrup I’ve had in the store cupboard for ages. What a fantastic, last-minute idea – it worked brilliantly, with the strawberries especially. From this day forward, I’ll always team my fresh strawberries with it!
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Vanilla cream with red berries
Ingredients
- 250 g/9oz crème fraîche
- 250 g/9oz mascarpone
- 1 vanilla pod
- 800 g/28oz mixture of red berries I used strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants
- 50 ml/1 ¾ fl oz grenadine syrup
- sprig of mint to garnish
Instructions
- Place a sieve or small colander over a mixing bowl and line it with a piece of muslin (I used a jelly bag)
- Spoon the crème fraîche and fromage frais into a mixing bowl
- Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways with a sharp knife, open it flat and scrape out the dark, sticky seeds. Fold the seeds through the crème fraîche/fromage frais mixture and spoon it into the muslin-lined sieve
- Cover the sieve/colander and its under-bowl with cling film (Saran wrap) and leave in the fridge overnight, during which time the vanilla cream will thicken to cheesecake-like texture
- Hull & slice the berries (not redcurrants if using), put them into a mixing bowl, pour over the grenadine syrup. Mix gently to cover all the fruit with the liquid, cover with cling film and refrigerate for about an hour
- Upturn the sieve/colander on to a plate and allow the muslin and cream to slide out
- Carefully peel away the muslin
- Spoon the marinated red berries and liquid around the vanilla cream
- Drizzle an extra capful or two of grenadine syrup over the top of the vanilla cream
- Serve!
