Strawberry Season

The best thing about strawberries is that you can make them savory or sweet. I love that you can drizzle balsamic vinegar on them and they just taste more vibrant. However, today we are going to discuss the sweet side. Many of my friends love strawberry shortcake on pound cake and I like strawberry ice cream so here are recipes for pound cake, strawberry ice cream and how do make the juice for strawberries and you won’t have to buy that red stuff that is really scary when you think about it.

Ingredients

• 8 large egg yolks
• 1 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 cups skim milk
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 2 cups heavy cream

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, off heat, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt until blended. Gradually whisk in milk.
2. Cook over medium, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard thickens slightly and evenly coats back of spoon (it should hold a line drawn by your finger), 10 to 12 minutes.
3. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl set over ice. Stir in cream. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until chilled.
4. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. I like to use my ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchenaid.
5. Mash 4 cups sliced strawberries with 1/4 cup sugar and let stand 10 minutes. Add to ice cream as it churns in ice cream maker.
6. Transfer ice cream to a re-sealable plastic container and freeze until firm, about 2 hours (or up to 3 months).

The pound cake recipe that I love is from Alton Brown’s Good Eats, so here it is.

Ingredients

• butter, to grease pans
• 1/3 cup flour, for pans
• 1 lb butter
• 1 lb sugar
• 9 large eggs ( 1 lb)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 lb cake flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Liberally butter two 9x5 loaf pans, or one 9" tube pan. Add the flour and coat all surfaces (if using loaf pans, simply place one on top of the other and shake vigorously). Discard any excess flour.
2. Warm the butter to 65-70F (about 3 hours at room temperature). Place sugar and butter in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (placing the butter on top of the sugar helps keep it from flying all over your kitchen). Mix on medium for a full 5 minutes.
3. With the mixer turned down too low, add eggs one at a time, waiting 20-30 seconds after each addition, until the egg is fully incorporated and emulsified before adding the next. Add vanilla and salt.
4. With the mixer still on low, add 1/3 of the flour. Mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the next 1/3 of the flour. When that's fully incorporated, scrape down again and add the last of the flour. When fully incorporated, scrape down a third time, then beat on medium for 30 seconds.
5. Using a scale, pour 2 lbs. of batter into each loaf pan (or pour the whole thing into the tube pan). Smooth the top lightly; it doesn't need to be perfect. Bake about 1 hour, until the internal temperature is 210F and the cakes are golden-brown.
6. Place the cakes, in their pans, on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and place bake on rack for at least another 10 minutes. Store loosely wrapped in a towel at room temperature for up to 3 days, or slice and freeze for up to 3 months. (It's very good toasted, right out of the freezer; one cycle thaws, and another toasts.).

For the strawberry sauce, I like to chop up about a dozen strawberries, soak them in Cointreau for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then add 2 cups of sugar and heat until the sugar melts. Add some sliced strawberries and refrigerate. When cool and ready to have strawberry shortcake, take out of the refrigerator and make the cake.