Very Berry Delicious!

It is the time of the year when the berries are available in the market-the most notable being strawberries.

The following are some delicious recipes using berries. Do try them out in your spare time.

Devil’s love bite cocktail

Ingredients

½ cup strawberry puree;

½ peg white rum,

Sugar syrup to taste;

2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preparation:

Blend fresh strawberries and strain the juice.
Shake along with the remaining ingredients in Boston shaker.
Garnish with fresh cut strawberries and salt on the glass rim.

Baked berry cheesecake

Ingredients:

75 gms butter melted plus extra for greasing;

175 gms digestive biscuits;

175 gms seasonal berries plus extra for decorating;

450 gms cream cheese;

150 gms caster sugar;

1 tsp. vanilla extract;

4 eggs lightly beaten;

Icing sugar to dust

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Butter the sides and base of a 24cm cake tin. Place the biscuits into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs.
Alternatively, place them into a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and press down into the base of the tin.
Spread the berries over the base and allow for chilling in the fridge for an hour.
Beat the cream, cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and the eggs together in a large bowl until smooth and creamy.
Pour over the top of the berries and then bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until pale golden and only wobbles slightly when you gently shake the tin.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about 10-15 minutes.
Then run a knife around the edge to loosen it and carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin.
Sprinkle over a few blueberries/strawberries, then dust with icing sugar Best eaten at room temperature.

Raspberry Macaroons

Ingredients

100 gms almond powder

180 gms icing sugar,

100 gms egg whites,

¼ tsp cream of tartar,

35 gms castor sugar,

A few drops of pink gel paste food color.

Preparation:

Baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Place the almond powder and confectioners’ sugar in a food processor and process until finely ground (about 1 to 2 minutes).
Sift the mixture to remove any lumps. In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar gradually add the superfine sugar, and continue to beat, on high speed, until the meringue holds in glossy and stiff peaks.
Once the almond structure is completely folded into the meringue, fill a pastry bag with the batter.
Pipe rounds of batter onto the parchment paper. Let the macaroons sit at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat your oven to 150 degrees c. Bake macaroons for about 16-20 minutes. Remove from oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack. Let the macaroons cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet. Place the macaroons on a wire rack to cool completely.

Raspberry filling– In a bowl beat or whisk, the cream cheese with the mascarpone cheese until nice and smooth with no lumps. Stir in 3-4 tbsp. of raspberry jam until well combined. Place in a small piping bag.

To assemble macaroons– Start with two cookies of about the same size. Pipe a round of raspberry filling onto the flat bottom side of one cookie. Take the second cookie and place it (top side up) on top of the filling to sandwich together.

Enjoy!

You may also like Banish the Blues with Blueberries

Rainbow sangria

Ingredients

White wine,

Black grapes,

Chopped strawberries,

Pineapple,

Orange and green apples.

Preparation– Stack black grapes at the bottom of the tall glass. Add ice cubes over the grapes. Stack the entire remaining fruits one above the other. Pour white wine and garnish with strawberry.