June…strawberry season…this year it coincided with a big sigh of relief a things start to open up again, and we find new patterns of summer “normalcy”–and of celebrating warm weather (that came late in CT), and being alive after the winter that would never end. And of course, strawberries are the perfect early summer fruit that we’re all craving as the days lengthen & heat up.
We finally did a strawberry patch day at Jones Family farm, after hearing about it for years. Definite summer bucket list for this crew…and the result…LOTS of strawberries…the kids, especially the girls are great pickers! The boys much preferred to romp in the patch and eat everything in sight, and that was wonderful too.
We came home loaded, especially thanks to a mothers helper who was also a dedicated picker 😉 So now the fun decision time…coinciding with fathers day weekend…what to make?
High on the list was strawberry icecream, along with strawberry rhubarb pie, and the desire to attempt Jam for the first time…and along with that, if we had enough left, some strawberry scones for Father’s day brunch. So here we go, sharing the recipes we tried, tweaked, and loved.
I may just want to go back in a few weeks and do this all over again!
Homemade Strawberry Icecream
This is a custard recipe—decided we wanted an old fashioned taste & texture this time. If you don’t want to use eggs, here’s another good option (non-custard recipe).
The nice thing is, this can easily be made dairy free. Just substitute coconut or almond or a combo milk, and they now have a dairy free heavy whipping cream alternative…so easy!
I also substituted coconut palm sugar for regular sugar…it definitely gives it a different (I would say lighter sweet) flavor, and I personally love it.
We doubled the batch…our kitchenaid icecream attachment couldn’t fit it in all at once…but definitely better to just make it all up and cycle it through if you can!
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh strawberries , hulled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups sugar, divided–1/2 cup for blending with strawberries and 1 1/2 cups for the main mixture–we used coconut palm sugar
- 4 cups heavy whipping cream (can sub dairy free)
- 2 cup milk (whole)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup sugar in a mixing bowl, set aside in fridge for 2 hours.
- In large mixing bowl (kitchen aid) beat eggs until light and fluffy.
- Gradually add remaining sugar, mixing well. Stir in milk and vanilla and mix well.
- Blend strawberries in a blender for a more even pink look/flavor and save a few strawberries in chunks for some nice texture.
- Add strawberries with juice and mix well.
- Gently stir in whipping cream just until combined.
- Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.
The kitchen aid icecream attachment is definitely the lazy man’s way to make ice-cream (I’m sitting here writing this out while it churns)….I remember the many hot hours taking turns churning icecream with my cousins as kids. But the reality is…this is much less intimidating, and I don’t want my ability to make ice-cream often in the summer to be dependent on whether my kids are around to lend an arm (they helped with the initial part of the recipe and then went in the sprinkler with friends).
A killer taste. Literally a spoonful tastes like every summer memory, flooding into one bite. Don’t take my word for it…try this!
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
With Father’s day weekend, we needed no excuse to whip up this tasty recipe. I used store bought pie shells because I have no guilt with taking short cuts on full weekend days…but here’s a good recipe if you’re making your own crust!
The rhubarbs grow wild in our yard (planted by the former owners, in a corner of the yard we hardly use…so it’s fun to have the girls bring heaping handfuls of them for us). They have a bitter edge that is balanced well by the ultra sweet strawberries. This wasn’t a pie combo I loved as a kid, but it’s now one of my absolute favorites.
We started with this recipe…and adapted (increased strawberry to rhubarb ratio, etc). Emma was my lattice queen, and it was fun to see her enjoy the creative pastry process…a girl after my own heart, finding flow & enjoyment in the kitchen in creative ways.
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped rhubarb
- 2.5 cups chopped strawberries
- 3/4 c. raw sugar
- 1/2 c. cornstarch
- 1 tbsp lemon juice plus 1 tsp. zest
- Pinch kosher salt
- 2 tbsp. cold butter, chopped
- 1 large egg, beaten
*Vanilla ice cream, for serving*
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425°. Prepare pie crusts and then do a quick pre-bake (scoring the dough) for 10 minutes…meanwhile…
- In a large bowl, mix together rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest, and salt until mixture begins to look juicy. Place one crust into a pie dish and pour in fruit mixture. Dot with pieces of butter.
- Decrease oven temp to 375
- With the other sheet of pie dough, make a lattice top. First, cut the dough into ¾” strips. Then, weave strips over and under each other in a criss-cross formation. Using kitchen shears, trim the top and bottom crust so there’s a 1” overhang, then fold under and crimp edges together. Brush crust with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake until pie is golden and filling is bubbling, about 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes. If crust is browning too fast, cover with aluminum foil.
- Let pie cool slightly, then serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.
So yummy & balanced! A perfect summer treat…and I also happen to love it for breakfast with cold brew on a warm summer morning! Try it, guilt free…after all, we’re after #intutiveeating here.
Fresh Strawberry Scones
The final recipe we made with our first batch of strawberries…strawberry scones for fathers day brunch. We tripled this recipe (changing some things), and then were able to have 2 extra batches for sharing with neighbors, for guests, and freezing So easy to pull out from freezer and prepare whenever you’re in the mood for that fresh summer taste.
So, is it wise to triple a recipe when it’s new and you’re experimenting? Not always. But in this case, it worked out! It was touch & go for a bit as I worked to get the consistency right with the types of flours I was using. I’ll encourage you to stay flexible, and work with these measurements with a literal grain of salt 😉
I wanted to make mine with less gluten so I started out with half & half einkorn flour and white whole wheat flour. But then, with the heavy cream I used instead of the originally suggested yogurt, it ended up being a bit too moist and needed more flour, so I added almond flour. All of this is reflected here, and it actually worked out to be a wonderful blend of textures/flavors. This process is exactly why my old food blog was named “whoops yummy”…and my family still teases me with that phrase from time to time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup einkorn flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
- 1/3 cup sugar (I used raw)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping cup hulled and diced fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 large egg
- Optional but recommended: 1/2 shredded coconut to mix in
- Raw sugar to sprinkle on top of the scones before baking
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
- In a medium bowl, blend together all of the dry ingredients.
- Cut butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter. It’s old fashioned but genuinely the best…channel your inner Julia Child and enjoy.
- Gently mix in the diced strawberries
- In a small bowl, whisk the heavy cream and egg until smooth. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, gently stir wet mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form (be careful not to squish all the berries). Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. The dough may be crumbly at first, but as you press, the dough will come together. If it’s not crumbly at all, and instead is too moist (the flours like einkorn can absorb it differently)…then go ahead and keep adding almond flour until the consistency is right.
- Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.
- Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
Can serve warm (extra yum) or make ahead and then re-heat in a toaster oven or low heat oven for the same melt-in-your mouth effect, but with less worry about timing it perfectly.
We spoiled our guy with these on Father’s day, and Emma, who is a scone afficionado and critic, said they were seriously amazing.
So basically, this blog post can be–ways to eat fresh strawberries all day long, from breakfast (scones), midday (ice-cream), to evening (pie). That’s certainly my plan.
If you try out any or all of these, let me know how you like them! Tag me on insta so I can see your creations.
Lots of love, stay safe, and keep enjoying the summer with simple, beautiful rhythms and some new fun summer recipes!