Chocolate Strawberry Curd Recipe

Do you know what's better than regular old strawberry curd?  Chocolate strawberry curd!

Even more awesome is the fact that the chocolate in this recipe doesn't have any guilt attached to it.  You did read that right, absolutely no guilt!  Capella Flavor Drops are becoming one of my absolutely favorite baking things.  With these drops I don't have to sacrifice calories to have amazing flavor.

If you're reading this and live in the NW suburbs of Chicago run right out to Valli by Tuesday 10/9 to pick up some $.99 strawberries.  That not only makes this recipe guilt-free but also frugal!


Chocolate Strawberry Curd
1 pound hulled and sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
12 Double Chocolate Capella Flavor Drops

In a food processor or blender pulse the strawberries till smooth.  Use a food mill to strain out the seeds.  (Food mills are my new fave thing.  It takes no time at all to get the seeds out of berries.  If you do a lot berry purees you should definitely pick one of these up.)

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.  Add strawberry puree, lemon juice and egg yolks.  Whisk well.  Cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until very thick, whisking constantly.

Remove from heat.  Gradually add butter, whisking until melted.  Add 12 double chocolate Capella flavor drops, whisk to incorporate.  Let cool.  Place in jar and refrigerate.

Susie Savors: Curd is better than jam or jelly.  The moisture is sealed into the mix.  It won't be an inconsistent texture.  The flavor of chocolate strawberry curd could even rival anything else on my breakfast toast.  The chocolate flavor adds complexity over the simple strawberry alone.  There is sweet from the strawberry and a subtle undertone of dark mellow chocolate to cut through it.  A balance of flavor that strikes the tongue as not too sweet and not too mellow.

*This is a sponsored post.  All opinions are my own.*

Wholesome Wednesday: Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

I've been really wanting to make a dessert in mason jars for a while now.  They're just so incredibly cute!!  And its in a jar so you can see everything that's in it and its portable.  Ummm...now I really need to calm down before I end up scaring someone.  It's probably due to all the whipped cream I just had on the strawberry shortcakes.  :)

I'm loving just about everything I'm having the urge to make out of that old Martha Meade cookbook.  The recipe actually called for bigger shortcakes, but I cut mine to fit into the jars and used two instead of one.  This allowed me to layer the shortcakes and make them seem bigger.  The rest of the recipe was easy to mix and bake.

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcakes

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup whole milk
Strawberries
Whipped Cream

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.  Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter, add whole milk and mix lightly.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface, roll 1 inch thick.  Cut with biscuit cutter (I used 1 1/2 inch).  Re-roll scraps to cut 12 rounds.  Place on greased pan and bake in a hot oven, 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

For the strawberries I cleaned and sliced 1 1/2 pounds into a medium bowl.  Added a couple of spoonfuls of sugar.  Stir and let sit at least an hour.

For the whipped cream, I made two separate batches.  The first batch, I used 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  Whipped till peaks form.  Second batch, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 ounce raspberry syrup.  Whipped till peaks form.

Assembly:

Place a shortbread in bottom of mason jar.  Spoon on strawberries and juice to cover.  Plop on some plain whipped cream.  Add another shortbread pushing down slightly to flatten whipped cream.  Then spoon on some strawberries and syrup.  Finally, plop on some raspberry whipped cream.

This recipe made extra shortbread, but the strawberries and whipped cream make enough for 4 servings.

Wholesome Wednesday: Strawberry Curd

I cannot tell you how much I love anything with strawberries in it.  I'm not sure if I've shared my strawberry story with y'all yet.  When I was under 4 (I know I was that young because we still lived here in Illinois) we used to go strawberry picking with family.  Both my mom's dad and I absolutely loved strawberries.  And he'd be the one to watch me while everyone else went off to pick berries.  We'd start off picking one, then eating one.  Then we'd pick one and eat two.  Then pick one and eat three.  And it just went on from there.  My family always joked that they should have weighed me on the way in and on the way out from picking berries.  The two of us definitely ate more than we picked.  :)

This story comes up a lot when strawberries are in season.  But I love them anyway I can get them.  And that's true with all berries, but strawberries are special.

Recently I saw a recipe for blackberry curd in one of my really, really old cookbooks.  I'd only ever heard of lemon curd and hadn't ever tried it.  Can't say it sounded appealing.  But berry curds are something that is right up my alley.  And I don't know why I've never come across them before because the strawberry one I made is absolutely mind blowing.  I can easily imagine using it on cupcakes, as a cake filling and on cookies.  We've been using it on English muffins, bagels and toast mostly.  Haven't been doing a lot of baking due to the hot hot weather Chicago has been seeing lately.  :(

Strawberry Curd
2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

In a food processor or blender pulse the strawberries till smooth.  Use a food mill to strain out the seeds.  (Food mills are my new fave thing.  It takes no time at all to get the seeds out of berries.  If you do a lot berry purees you should definitely pick one of these up.)

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.  Add strawberry puree, lemon juice and egg yolks.  Whisk well.  Cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes or until very thick, whisking constantly.

Remove from heat.  Gradually add butter, whisking until melted.  Let cool.  Place in jar and refrigerate.

See I told you it was incredibly easy.  And the taste is to die for.  It has a consistency of a cream cheese almost but such a bright strawberry flavor.  It's just yummy, take my word for it.  :)

That said I may possibly have to take a break in my Wholesome Wednesday posts till the weather is more agreeable.  I have an idea for next week that I've been working on that doesn't require using heat.  Past that we'll have to see.  I love posting these but can't see heating up the whole house to do them.  I tend to eat more simply in the summer with a lot of fresh fruit and veggies and grill a lot.  If y'all are interested in grill recipes I could move that way till the weather is less sweltering.  Just let me know?