Homegrown Strawberries – Macerated Berries with Vanilla Cream
When our contractor was rebuilding our porch one spring after the old rotting one almost ripped away from our house in an ice storm the previous winter, I had just added a 4 x 4 foot raised bed of strawberries to the garden. The porch overlooked the garden and the strawberry bed was the closest one to where our contractor was working. He observed my plot everyday while he toiled, watching with interest as I planted and my crops grew.
In late May, the strawberries swelled on the plants from small white flowers into seed-covered fruit and slowly began to ripen from pale green to bright red. I couldn’t wait for my first crop of homegrown berries. But our contractor knew there would be no harvest. As he watched day after day, he saw the crop vanish; the neighborhood squirrels got the better of the berries. Just before they were fully ripened the rodents would come along searching through the bed, sniffing out and eating each fruit, their mouths stained bright red with sweet juice. Day after day he watched until there were no berries remaining, not one left for me. He thought it was hilarious. I was not amused.
Of course I didn’t give up on strawberries, knowing I could beat the squirrels. I’d just have to find a way to seal off the plants. Covering them up with a board or tarp wouldn’t work; they are plants, after all, requiring light to photosynthesize. A layer of deer netting was unsuccessful; the squirrels chewed right through and crawled right in. After a year or two I came up with a solution. I built a wooden frame lined with one centimeter square wire mesh that fit over the raised bed precisely. The squirrels could not fit through, it was too heavy for them to move, and even their voracious teeth could not chew through this protective layer. All I had to do was cover the berries each spring for a few weeks as they ripened, and remove the frame for a quick harvest, replacing it when I was done.
It was a resounding success. Every day, for a few weeks starting around Memorial Day, I get a small harvest of sweet and perfectly ripe strawberries. And I don’t have to share them with the squirrels.
Macerated Berries with Vanilla Cream
The benefit of homegrown strawberries – or any berry for that matter – is that you can pick them at the peak of ripeness. Their flavor is unparalleled. This is not the case with most store-bought berries, which likely have travelled for hundreds, maybe thousands of miles, from who knows where. These berries are often picked before they are fully ripe and therefore before their flavor peaks.
Because they are so tasty, I usually eat my homegrown berries with no accompaniment; it would dilute their flavor. But most people don’t have the luxury of berries picked a few feet from their kitchen, and strawberries are only available to me a few weeks each year in late May and early June. The rest of the year I rely on store-bought.
That’s where this recipe for Macerated Berries with Vanilla Cream, modified from Bon Appétit, comes in. Macerating – mashing a portion of the berries with sugar to release their juices – makes the resulting berry “sauce” unbelievably sweet. It transforms mediocre store-bought berries into something special. Paired with a combination of whipped and sour cream, spiked with vanilla extract, it is the ultimate simple yet elegant dessert. My wife almost always serves it upon my request when we have guests on a hot summer evening. (While I do most of the cooking in our household, she is usually responsible for dessert.) Other than homegrown, this is my favorite way to eat berries.
1 – 2 hours, mostly hands-off, serves 4
For the berries:
4 cups mixed fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
⅔ cup sugar
3 Tbsp. orange juice
For the vanilla cream:
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¾ cup heavy cream, chilled
¼ cup sour cream
3 Tbsp. sugar
- Mash a little less than 1 cup of berries with the sugar and orange juice using a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon in a bowl large enough to comfortably hold all of the berries until the sugar begins to dissolve. Gently stir in the remaining berries. Let sit at room temperature, tossing from time to time, for about 1 to 2 hours.
- Add vanilla extract, chilled heavy cream, sour cream, and sugar to a mixing bowl. Using a whisk or electric mixer, beat until soft peaks form. Cream can be prepared 30 minutes ahead, then covered and chilled until ready to serve.
- Place one quarter of the berries along with their juices in each of four dishes. Top with vanilla cream and serve.
