Strawberry fields forever...

Luscious strawberries with their soft velvety texture are possibly the quintessential summer fruit, but here in Mallorca, they are coming into season right now. Their wonderful aroma and sweet-acidic flavour brighten up a host of dishes from mousses and cheesecakes to ice creams and refreshing fruit cocktails. Lately however, a recent study showed they can also brighten up your sex life. Apparently, because of the high levels of zinc found in the fruits' seeds which unlike most fruits are eaten rather than removed, eating fresh strawberries and raspberries increases the sex drive of both men and women while boosting sexual prowess and performance at the same time. So, there you have it, not only are they utterly delicious…they are also natures answer to Viagra!

But all this evidence is hardly new, in medieval times strawberries were regarded as an aphrodisiac and a soup made of strawberries, borage and soured cream was traditionally served to newlyweds at their wedding breakfast, while Madame Tallien, a lady at the court of Napoleon, was reputed to bathe in the juice of strawberries to enjoy their healing properties.

Most purists will tell you the only way to eat them is with thick cream and fine sugar, but strawberries make perfect partners for many ingredients including, almonds, apricots, coconut, rhubarb, kiwis, and passion fruit. Try pouring a little Cointreau, sherry, champagne, or even balsamic vinegar over them. You could also flavour them with vanilla, cinnamon, lavender, fresh basil, and black peppercorns. I like to simply marinate strawberries in a little fruity olive oil with some wonderfully fragrant lemon basil or puree them to serve as a chilled soup for dessert. My favourite way to do this is to blend them with a little olive oil and a few drops of sherry vinegar. I call it a strawberry gazpacho and quite often serve it as a simple dessert with a spoonful of coconut sorbet. It’s a light, refreshing soup, perfect for a sunny day and it’s also a very healthy end to a meal as strawberries contain as much vitamin C as an orange with only 50 calories per serving and no cholesterol or saturated fats.

And in the words of Dr William Butler (1535 -1618) who said, 'Doubtless, God could have made a better berry, but doubtless, God never did”….I couldn’t agree more.

Strawberry & elderflower jam

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 35 mins

Ingredients makes 6-7 jars

• 2kg small ripe strawberries
• 1.8kg jam sugar
• 2tsp elderflower syrup
• Juice of 2 lemons

Method

1. Prepare the strawberries by wiping them with a piece of damp kitchen paper. And remove the stalks. (Wiping the strawberries rather than washing them ensures the fruit doesn’t absorb lots of water – too much water and the jam won’t set easily.)
2. Discard any that are rotten or mouldy.
3. Set aside about 250g of the smallest strawberries berries, and then blend the rest with a hand blender into a rough pulp. Pour into a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the sugar and the lemon juice, and bring slowly to the boil to dissolve all the sugar. If any sugar remains on the sides of the pan, dip a pastry brush in hot water and brush the sugar away. Add the remaining strawberries to the pan and put a couple of small plates in the freezer.
4. Boil the jam for about 15 minutes, stirring regularly checking the setting point every minute or so during the last 5 minutes. To do this, take the cold plate out of the freezer, put a little jam on it, and put it back in to cool for a minute. If it wrinkles when you push it with your finger, then it's done. If not, turn the heat back on and boil for 2 minutes more, then turn off the heat and do the wrinkle test again. Repeat until ready. This produces a light Strawberry jam.
5. Take off the heat and skim off the pink scum from the surface. Pour into sterilised jars and cover with a disc of waxed paper, seal, and store.

Mini red fruit & passion fruit pavlovas

Prep time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients serves 6

• 250g mixed red fruits (strawberries (sliced), raspberries, redcurrants etc)

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 180g sugar
• 3 drops of lemon juice

Method

1. In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites and lemon until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed. Gradually add the sugar, whisking continuously until the mixture is thick and glossy.
2. Turn on your oven to its lowest setting around 110ºC.
3. Spoon the meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5cm nozzle.
4. Pipe out six 8cm circles of meringue on a lined baking tray and pipe a ring around each circle to form a small basket. Place in the oven and bake for at least 2-3 hours. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues in the oven to crisp up. Carefully lift the meringues off the baking paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Passion fruit Cream

• 5 passion fruits
• 150ml orange juice
• 250g mascarpone
• 150ml crème fraîche
• 200ml whipping cream
• 1 vanilla pod, split
• 75g icing sugar

To make the Passion fruit Cream

1. Halve the passion fruits and scoop out the juice and seeds in a small saucepan. Add the orange juice, vanilla pod and bring to boil. Reduce by half to concentrate the flavour.
2. Beat the mascarpone and sugar with the crème fraìche. Sieve the passion fruit juice and add beat into the mascarpone mixture. Whip the cream and fold into the passion fruit cream.

To serve

Fill the meringue baskets with the passion fruit pastry cream and top with mixed red fruits. Dust with icing sugar, garnish with fresh mint, and serve immediately.

Strawberry & vanilla semifreddo

Ingredients serves 6-8

• 500g fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 220g sugar
• 1 vanlla pod (halved and scraped)
• 400ml cream

Method

1. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and set it aside.
2. In a heatproof bowl over low simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water), whisk the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla for 5 minutes until it's pale and thickened. Remove from heat and continue beating until it has cooled.
3. Whisk the cream until soft peaks and gently fold through the egg mixture.
4. Divide the cream mixture in half and combine with the pureed strawberries with one half. Layer the 2 mixtures into ramekins or glasses. Freeze overnight until firm. Garnish with fresh strawberries & serve.