Local, Seasonal, Wellbeing
This week, I joined Damien in the studio to talk all things Strawberries.
We are in peak strawberry season at the minute, so we should be celebrating the season and all its delights while it lasts, savour the aroma, texture, the sweetness and juiciness. Nothing says an Irish summer like seeing the strawberry and potato vendors on the side of the road.
We aren’t the only people who celebrate Strawberries either, over the pond the sweet fruits are worshiped at Wimbledon and have been for many years. In fact, each year more than 38 ton / 1.9 million strawberries are consumed during the tournament, that’s more than 140,000 punnets! Wimbledon is not just a celebration of tennis it is a celebration of great food and drink, from its renowned Strawberries and Cream to Pimm’s Cup, I have recreated some delicious Wimbledon delights for us to enjoy today.
First up, we had my gorgeous Strawberry Pimms Punch cocktail, using gin based Pimms No. 1, macerated strawberries, sparkling apple juice, mint and cucumber for a hit of freshness, orange slice for a citrus twist, a splash of Aromatic bitter, and lots of ice, this was such a light and fruity drink, and my version of the traditional Pimms cup.
Ideal for summer garden parties or barbeques, you can even batch make this recipe ahead of time, super simple!
Next, we kept with the Pimms theme, and tried my sensational Pimms Eton Mess!
I made a gorgeous Pimms syrup which you can check out in the recipe, ideal for this dessert or just even over ice cream, I then made a Pavlova marshmallow style meringue, which is beautifully gooey in the centre and crisp on the exterior, broke this up, and my ‘cheats version’ of a crème patisserie, which is just pre-made custard, whipped cream and good quality vanilla bean extract, all whipped together to make this beautiful custardy cream filling paired with macerated strawberries, filled high in a nice dessert glass, garnished with mint, it was definitely a winner for Damien.
Then we had another delicious treat, my Summer Strawberry Stack.
This is layers of crumbly and buttery shortbread biscuits, strawberry jam, my ‘cheats version’ of a crème patisserie from the Pimms Eton Mess, sliced local Strawberries and towered on top of one another to create this stunning summer dessert. The beauty of this recipe is you can make it with homemade shortbread biscuits, or if you prefer to make an easier version using sweetened puff pastry, both work perfect.
As mentioned during the show, I used this lovely Aromatic Hedgerow Bitters from Off The Cuff in my Strawberry Pimms Punch, which really complemented the drink from its dry finish and complex herbaceous character, the quality botanicals sourced from Hedgerows really took the flavours of the drink to the next level.
What a great morning in studio. If you are heading out for a walk, doing a little housework, pop on the podcast here and have a listen back.
Until then, See you next week.
