Ask me to find a culinary definition of early summer - and my answer will be strawberries.
Beautiful, aromatic and always generous - the first berries can be picked at the end of May and they would keep coming through the whole month of June. Until one day this small mighty plant tells itself: “ Enough of these berries, let’s do some runners ” - and that's the perfect time to plant the new strawberries and start the new bed - because one never could have enough of them, agree?
While there is an abundance of fresh strawberries, I keep looking and trying new recipes, because the regular strawberry preserve sounds just booooring. But wait for the winter and ask my grandkids “ What jam do you want to open?” Without missing a beat - “strawberry, please”. Not delicate apricot, not exotic che fruit, not unusual plums - the kids always reach out for strawberries.
So this year I tried the new recipe of candied strawberries. It was from the YouTube channel “Armenian Kitchen” so all the credits go to the author, Mrs. Arusyak Hokhikyan. What is your absolutely favorite strawberry recipe that you've tried yourself?
Our site is now open for comments and recipe sharing - you have to become a member, though. I know, it is annoying … but not for long, I hope, as 3 giants- Apple, Google and Microsoft just announced plans to eliminate passwords … looking forward to their recipe.
Candied strawberries (from the YouTube channel “Armenian Kitchen”)
Pick up the best berries - 1 kilogram. Wash and remove the stems, set aside. Sugar - 800 grams (Do not be skittish with sugar in this recipe).
Pour 1 cup of water into a wide pot, add sugar, and bring to boil until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the juice of one lemon. Slowly add strawberries into the pot, lower the flame, bring all to boil and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Leave the pot until it cooled down fully. Separate berries from the syrup and repeat the process - boil the syrup, add berries, cook for 2 minutes, turn off and cool fully.
Next iteration, slowly boil the syrup until it is ready (test on a cold saucer). This time add berries, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.
When fully cooled (it is good to leave them for a couple hours or overnight), take the berries, put them on the tray and dehydrate them. Use fruit leather settings on your dehydrator. I dehydrated for a couple hours, then left for a couple hours. Repeat until you are satisfied with the results. I wanted the berries to be dry but not over dried, more like marmalade.
And shiny. And a bit sticky. At this stage they could be frozen on a flat tray and then moved into
the container and stored in the freezer. But they were such a success - somehow, while I wasn't looking, they just disappeared. Oh well, just means it's time to go pick more strawberries!