Strawberries on Toast for Lunch E.A.T. #50

May 21, 2021 ~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 9 Comments

Late May in Nashville means an abundance of fresh, juicy, local strawberries. Sliced strawberries on buttered bread toasted with a light sprinkling of raw sugar is just about a close to Nirvana as you can get when it comes to food.

This was our Friday lunch, and might be Saturday’s lunch as well and why not Sunday breakfast with a few slices of Gruyere added? We try to eat as many as we can while the local crop is plentiful. Simple is best, although over the years I have posted recipes for strawberry jam and Victoria sponge cakes with strawberries…let’s not forget the strawberry tarts. Those are all delicious and wonderful, but our absolute favorite way to eat strawberries is just like this. Simple and lightly sweet.

There is no recipe. Just grab some really good crusty-loafed bread such as sour-dough. Fresh local berries capped and sliced. Smear the bread slices with yummy softened butter and toast. Top toasted bread with sliced berries and a light sprinkling of raw sugar. It is as Easy-as-This.

Life is short, summer is here, treat yourself and others kindly and enjoy the bounty.

Bon Apetit.

Strawberry Tart…From Blog Post to Magazine Cover

May 5, 2016 ~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 25 Comments

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It is a proud moment in blogging when a post ends up on the cover of a magazine!

In May of 2015 I posted a blog featuring “A Mother’s Day Tennessee Strawberry Tart” and now May 2016…one year later my tart is the cover story of the May/June Edible Nashville. Thanks Jill Melton and Edible!

There is nothing so sweet as the beginning of Strawberry Season. Every May the Downtown Nashville Farmer’s Market begins to fill up with local farmers offering pints and quarts of berries and this May is no different. I bought my first berries this past weekend. I picked up a couple of extra cartons for gifts for my daughters. Yes Strawberries do say love!

So in honor of Tennessee Strawberry time I am going to share previous posts I have done which feature fresh, local, Spring Strawberries.

Here is where you will find the full recipe and original story with how-to photos to make “A Mother’s Day Tennessee Strawberry Tart”.

Want to keep some of that berry-goodness for later in the year? “Strawberries Fresh Picked & Put Up!” is the easiest of recipes for making a few jars of freezer strawberry jam.

“Saturday, Spring Strawberries, Buttered Toast…..” My partner, Wouter, shares his Dutch “recipe” for enjoying the first Spring strawberries…sugared on buttered toast.

And last, but not least, if you want to spend a bit more time and really impress your family and friends then you might want to try out this recipe for “Ruby Red Strawberry Victoria Sponge Cake with Lemon Mascarpone Filling”. It is a stunner!

If I were a berry I would enjoy resting on top of a sponge cake, dusted with powdered sugar….or swirling around in sweet juice in a canning jar for all to admire….or being wrapped up snuggly in a blanket of dough. Wouldn’t you?

http://www.teresablackburnfoodstyling.com http://www.foodonfifth.com

Sugared Strawberry Sponge Cake Stacks

May 29, 2015 ~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 22 Comments

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the Tennessee farmers who grow strawberries for all of us non-farmers to enjoy every May. Year by year they are out in their fields early on chilly mornings checking on their fields while we are snug in our beds. They watch the weather reports, day in-day out, trying to judge how each years crop will turn out. Too much rain….not enough. Too many cloudy days or relentless heat.

This year’s Tennessee strawberry crop has been so sweet. It is a short season so do not delay. Boxes full of tender, ruby-red berries lined up at Farmer’s Market stands just for making recipes such as this, “Sugared (Tennessee) Strawberry Sponge Cake Stacks”.

I made wee sponge cakes in a muffin tin with just a few ingredients. These cakes are light and airy with just a hint of sweetness. I want to taste the berries first, then the berry juice soaked cake with a quick dusting of powdered sugar.

Warm sponge cakes……I sprayed the muffin tin with coconut spray which added a very nice hint of coconut to the cakes……

….berries rinsed, patted dry, cut in half and tossed with raw sugar.

It would not be May without sugared strawberries and little cakes!

The berries from Delvin Farms. The wee sponge cakes are based on a recipe by James Tanner from his amazing wonderful and simple cookbook “Take 5 Ingredients”.

Sugared Strawberry Sponge Cake Stacks

Servings: 6
Time: 30mins
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Ingredients:

coconut oil spray (I just discovered this and adore the hint of coconut it imbues)
4 eggs, separated
3/4 cup superfine sugar (if you cannot find then pulse regular sugar in processor until fine)
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour sifted with 1/4 tsp sea salt
2 pints of fresh (local) seasonal Strawberries, rinsed & patted dry, tops cut off and halved
1/3 cups raw sugar
powdered sugar for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 6 cup muffin tin with coconut spray. Set aside.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until pale & frothy.
In another bowl whisk, or use a hand mixer, the egg whites until stiff. Whisk the egg whites into the egg yolks.
Fold the flour-salt mixture in small batches until all the flour is blended in.
Divide batter between greased muffin tin cups. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and set in the middle. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove sponge cakes from tin and continue to cool on rack while preparing berries.
In a glass mixing bowl toss together the strawberries & raw sugar. Mash a few of the berries with the back of a fork to release juices. Toss again and leave to sit for about 30 minutes before serving.
To serve use a serrated knife to gently cut each wee sponge cake into 3 slices. Layer cake and berries on a serving plate. Allow about 5 minutes before serving to let cake layers soak up berry juice. Dust cake with powdered sugar and serve.

This is a simple dessert that is not overly sweet. Easy to make. Can be prepped ahead of time and can be made using any seasonal berries, peaches or plums.

A Mother’s Day Tennessee Strawberry Tart

May 9, 2015 ~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 36 Comments

This week they arrived, plump, sweet and plentiful. Those small, round baby berries. Tennessee Strawberries. Just in time for Mother’s Day. I made this tart with the first ones I purchased after eating half the carton one-by-one.

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I have never been a big fan of cooked strawberries as in strawberry pie or strawberry cobblers. Something about the berries becoming “mushy” during the cooking process just doesn’t appeal to my palate. This tart is different. The berries stay firm and keep their color, they do not get mushy nor discolored. It has a wonderful crispy crust that doesn’t get soggy on the bottom. With only a few ingredients it is quick and easy, beautifully rustic and will just make you, or your mother, very happy bite-by-bite.

This is what a really fresh, ripe, just picked locally grown Tennessee Strawberry looks like up close. Not perfect, not dark red and very red inside as well as outside. They are fragrant. Here are some places you can go and pick your own berries in Middle Tennessee if you like. I am pretty happy to let others do the picking for me. These berries came from the Downtown Nashville Farmer’s Market.

Sliced strawberries &almonds mixed in with sugar and cornstarch is the easiest filling.

Four ingredients is all that is needed for this crust. If you are in a big hurry you can, of course, use a refrigerator roll-out dough. In a food processor my crust takes about 5 minutes to make. Give it a try.

Warm from the oven…..

….come on…get a bit closer…let’s have a bite. Share some with your Mom, or someone else’s Mom. Make this while the local strawberries are available…it is a fleeting season.

Tennessee Strawberry Tart

Servings: 6
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: very easy
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Strawberry Tart

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cold butter cut into small pieces
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour mixed with 1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp + 1/4 cup raw sugar divided
4 Tbsp ice water
2 cups rinsed, hulled & halved small strawberries
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 egg beaten
Sanding sugar for garnish

Directions:

For this easy crust just put butter, flour-salt mixture & 1 Tbsp of the raw sugar in a food processor and pulse just until mixture is blended. Drizzle in ice water while pulsing mixture until a dough ball forms. Remove dough from processor, form into a ball and flatten. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
Place halved berries and sliced almonds in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle cornstarch & remaining 1/4 cup raw sugar over & gently toss to coat berries. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll chilled dough out onto a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper into a rough circle about 15″ across.
Lift dough lined parchment paper and place on a sheet pan. It is okay if the dough hangs over the edges.
Pile strawberry filling in the middle of the dough circle and gently fold the edges up over the filling, leaving the center open. Brush dough with the beaten egg & sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Bake tart for about 40 -50 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly. Remove from oven & cool tart on pan set on a cooling rack. Serve warm or room temperature. This tart was very good for a few days and the bottom crust never got soggy!

(Recipe is based on one that I did for an editorial client earlier this Spring for a photo shoot. I, of course, made a number of changes to make it more user-friendly.)

Saturday, Spring Strawberries, Buttered Toast and My Week in Photos

May 17, 2014May 17, 2014 ~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 35 Comments

Wouter, who is Dutch, introduced me to this style of eating small, sweet strawberries on toasted bread with butter.

Not really a recipe, here is what you do to for the best Saturday, May 17th, breakfast ever…..

1. Wash 1 pint of small, local, sweet strawberries under cool running water. Remove caps & put into a bowl, cutting larger berries in half. Sprinkle berries with a bit of turbinado/raw sugar. Crush a few berries with a fork. Let sit while you make toast.

2. Slather toasted bread with softened butter, top with berries & another light dusting of sugar. This simple way of eating berries allows them to retain their flavor without being overwhelmed by other ingredients. It is just magical. Thanks Wouter.