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Strawberry Puree (Sauce):
1 - 20 ounce bag (570 grams) of frozen unsweetened strawberries or 20 ounces of fresh strawberries
1/4 - 1/3 cup (50 - 65 grams) granulated white sugar, or to taste
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional
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Strawberry Puree: Place the unsweetened frozen strawberries in a large bowl and thaw. This may take a few hours. Once thawed, put the strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process the berries until they are pureed. Pour the puree into a 2 cup (480 ml) measuring cup. You should have about 1 1/4 cups of puree. Add 1/4 cup (50 grams) of the sugar to start and stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Can also add a little lemon juice to taste.
Store covered in the refrigerator for one week. The sauce can also be frozen.
Makes approximately 1 1/4 cups (300 ml). Preparation time 10 minutes.
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Strawberry Sauce (Puree) is a delicious blend of pureed strawberries and sugar. Fruit sauces pack a lot of flavor yet involve so little effort. Take this strawberry sauce; all you need to do is process either fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries, along with a little sugar, until smooth. Then add a few drops of lemon juice to bring out the strawberry's flavor and your done. It stores for up to a week in your refrigerator or for a month in your freezer.
While fruit sauces are not commonly made and used by home cooks, pastry chefs have long valued their versatility and their ability to transform even the simplest dessert into something special. Take a slice of cheesecake or a rich chocolate torte and drizzle over a little strawberry sauce, and you will be amazed at how much better it looks and tastes. Or, for an easy weeknight dessert that your kids will love, just pour it over a bowl of ice cream or make a strawberry milkshake. It is also wonderful when folded into some whipped cream for a Fruit Fool, or as part of an Eton Mess. It can be used as a filling for cakes and roulades, either alone or added to Confectioners' frosting, whipping cream, or Pastry Cream.
If you decide to use fresh strawberries to make this sauce, you need to buy strawberries that are at their prime. Look for bright red berries that are fragrant, plump, firm, uniformly sized, and with no white or green "shoulders" at the stem end. There should be no soft spots, bruising or mildew. The green leaf-like cap or hull should still be attached and it should not be brown or wilted. Always check the underside of the container to make sure there are no squashed berries or red juice (sign of overripe berries). Also, since strawberries are a delicate fruit they do not store well. If not using immediately store in a single layer on a paper towel-lined tray in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Do not wash or remove caps before storing as strawberries absorb moisture. Immediately before using quickly wash berries (do not soak), with caps still intact, so the berries will not fill with water which, dilutes the flavor of the strawberry.