Strawberry Picking!

I love strawberries. 

They’re a summertime treat that for many years I just enjoyed when they were in stock at the grocery store. Now, I have more free time and look for new activities and try new things. When I saw a post on Facebook from a local farm that strawberries were in season and I could come to pick my own, I thought, “this is something I must do.”

I called a few friends and arranged for a day of berry-picking. I drove forty miles to the farm and then realized I probably should have called ahead to confirm.  The fruit wasn’t quite ripe, and we were unable to pick, so we settled on a girls’ lunch out instead. Over the next several weeks, schedules were busy, days of pelting rains happened, and other events conflicted, making it impossible to make it back to the farm. We knew mid-July was coming, and the strawberries would be out of season, so we had to make time. 

2 20# buckets and a flat.

But, the day came in early July when the farm announced it was the last week of the season. I no longer had time for my berry-picking experience, so I settled on buying a quantity of pre-picked strawberries instead. I came home happy, with my haul of 48 pounds of strawberries.

I planned some for strawberry-rhubarb jam. The rhubarb was picked, prepped, and frozen, ready to be used. Some would be used in pie, and some processed and packaged for baking. I took the stems off, cleaned them, and packaged them in one-pound bags, using my food-saver to seal them for extended storage. Once I had 18 pounds safely tucked away, I pulled out some new recipes to try.

One pound packages frozen.

 

My first one was strawberry filling that promised to be thick enough for cake fillings and topping. Fruit-filled sweet rolls are one of my favorites, so it seemed like an excellent recipe to test. 

A nice filling should be suitable for sweet rolls, but if the consistency was right, it would make great ice cream topping, strawberry shortcake filling, and a few other tasty treats. I got to work on the first batch. 

It was very easy, but took longer to then that I expected. The result was worth it. The flavor and consistency was everything I had hoped. It smelled heavenly as it simmered away and I couldn't wait to try it in a few recipes. 

The mandatory taste-testing we performed along the way got better with each spoonful.

Strawberries start off whole, then cook down into a thick sauce.

 Here’s the recipe:

Strawberry Filling or Topping

Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh strawberries
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 Tbsp cornstarch
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Cups Water - DIVIDED
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Put 1 cup of water in a large saucepan, adding the sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Mix to blend then add the strawberries.
2. Heat the fruit on low to medium until sugar is dissolved, stirring until it begins to bubble.
3. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with the remaining 1 cup water to dissolve completely.
4. Add the cornstarch water to the saucepan and continue to cook on low for about 30 minutes.
5. Cook until it thickens and has a deep red glossy color. Test on the back of a wooden spoon. When it coats, it’s done.
6. Store in refrigerator to use within a few days or seal in jars.

  

I used about half my first batch in strawberry cream cheese sweet rolls. I have a wonderful recipe for sweet rolls and cinnamon rolls that is made-from-scratch but only takes an hour, so it’s my go-to favorite. 

The yeast dough is mixed then rests only five minutes before you roll it out and add the filling. The first filling layer is cream cheese, which is followed by fruit, then you carefully roll it up and slice to bake.

Dough covered in cream cheese filling, ready for the strawberry topping.

The finished product, fresh from the oven and drizzled with icing.

Here’s my full recipe:

One Hour Sweet Rolls

Makes 10-12

Ingredients

• FOR THE DOUGH:
• 1 cup warm milk
• 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast {2 1/2 packages} FOR BEST RESULTS USE 1 1/2 PACKAGE ACTIVE DRY AND 1 PACKAGE FAST-ACTING.
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg (room temperature)
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 4-4 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
• FILLING
• 4 ounces cream cheese, (softened)
• 2 tablespoons butter, (softened)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, apples or other fruit
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• GLAZE
• 1/4 cup butter, (softened)
• 1 ounce cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons of milk
• 1 teaspoon corn syrup

Instructions

1. Making the Dough- In a large liquid measuring cup, stir warm milk, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar together to dissolve.
2. Stir and proof 5 minutes.
3. Into a larbe bowl, measure out 4 cups of flour, the remaining sugar, and salt. Once yeast mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour in with dry ingredients. Start to stir on low with mixer or by hand.
4. Add in the egg and the oil. Scrape edges of bowl to stir flour in evenly. Knead 5 minutes on low. If dough seems a bit sticky, stir in 2 tablespoons of flour at a time until it starts pulling away from the bowl.
5. Rest dough 5 minutes.
6. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. 
7. MAKE CREAM CHEESE FILLING - Beat together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
8. PREPARE FRUIT FILLING: Toss the FRUIT in the cornstarch, evenly coating, if you're using fresh raspberries or blueberries. For apples, I toss in cinnamon sugar and for the strawberry, I used the prepared filling.
9. Sprinkle counter with flour and roll dough to be about 18x24.
10. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough. Sprinkle with the raspberries and Lightly press the FRUIT/cream cheese into the butter using a rolling pin. Roll up tightly starting on the long edge. Pinch edges to seal together.
11. Slice into rolls into about ten 1 1/2 inch rounds and place on prepared pan. Cover and let rise 20 minutes.
12. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 25-30 minutes or until tops start to brown lightly.
13. Remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes.

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE 

1. While the rolls cool, mix the glaze ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add more milk if necessary to thin the glaze.
2. Pour the glaze over the warm rolls and serve.

Good Morning!