4 large strawberries
1/2 cup milk
1 banana
1 1/2 tsp sugar
Mix the strawberries, milk and banana. Blend until perfectly smooth. Add sugar and blend for 1 minute.
For a healthier option, skip the sugar and add oats instead for a perfect pick-me-up breakfast. You can also replace the milk with plain nonfat yogurt.
2. Strawberry cake
Make a basic Victoria sponge:
You’ll need:
115g softened unsalted butter (Lurpak isn’t the only option – Millac now does unsalted butter)
115 g caster sugar
115 g self-raising flour (add 1 tsp baking powder to this amount of plain flour if you don’t have self-raising flour)
2 eggs
1/2 kg strawberries
(Karachista’s tip – weigh your eggs, shell and all. They should weigh 110g – if not adjust your other ingredients eg if your eggs weigh 100g, then use 100g each of butter, flour and sugar)
What to do:
1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius (160 degrees if it’s a fan oven)
2. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and whip with a hand mixer. Mix until it looks like grainy, softened icecream.
(Karachista’s tip : Don’t overwhip – if it looks like melted milkshake or glossy cream, you’ve gone to far and your cake may sink.)
3. Spoon the mixture into a greased, lined 8 inch sandwich tin and bake for 20 minutes or until the cake in shrinking from the edges on the pan and bounces back when touched lightly in the middle. Another way of checking if it’s done is to use a wooden toothpick – if it comes out clean then the cake is done – but I don’t like poking holes in my cake.
4. Wash, hull and slice the strawberries in two. Sprinkle with a little caster sugar and leave for an hour.
5. After removing from the oven, leave in the tin for a couple of minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. Don’t wait for it to cool completely as it will dry out to much. Wait till it is lukewarm and then decorate. Alternatively wrap in clingfilm once it’s lukewarm and keep in a cool place till you’re ready to decorate.
6. Arrange the sliced strawberries on the cake. The sugaring process will have resulted in some syrup. Reduce this till it’s sticky and brush over the strawberries for a pretty, shiny glaze. If you don’t have enough syrup, brush some melted strawberry jam on inste
3. Strawberry salad
This strawberry salad is hassle-free, packed with nutrients and delicious. The ingredients are readily available in the market so it shouldn’t take too long to whip up this healthy dish.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 cup large strawberries – cut lengthwise into thick slices
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbps balsamic vinegar (or lime juice and 1 tsp sugar if you find balsamic vinegar too strong)
1/2 cup roasted almonds or walnuts
5 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup feta cheese
How to make it:
1. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar to make the dressing
2. Mix remaining ingredients together
3. Toss in the dressing and serve immediately.
Enjoy the strawberries while they last!
