Minted Strawberries

This is one of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy fresh strawberries.  They're so simple to make, yet they feel so gourmet.  Serve them at any meal, or even as a light dessert.  Spearmint is the way to go for most recipes, but if you can find a chocolate mint plant, that works especially well here.

Items used to make this recipe:

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• vanilla sugar https://amzn.to/2Hg9l3K

• paring knife https://amzn.to/2Q3Cbam

• cutting board https://amzn.to/2VjbtLy

• ramekins https://amzn.to/2E8gIbw

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Minted Strawberries

makes 2 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredient

• 8-10 ripe strawberries, chopped into bite-size pieces

• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are (or white granulated sugar)

• 2 fresh spearmint leaves, sliced into thin ribbons (or try chocolate mint)

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients together; stir to coat and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, or until the strawberries start to release their juice.

2. Stir again and serve. Chill leftovers.

Hungarian Shortbread: Tuesdays with Dorie

TWD Hungarian Shortbread - ButterYum

Today I'm thrilled to be joining the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group for the first time.  This group is baking their way through the book Baking with Julia and today's featured recipe is Gale Gand's Hungarian Shortbread (page 327, Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan).

This shortbread is delicious, but it's very rich and very sweet.  It's different than other shortbread recipes I've tried - the dough contains egg yolks, it's chilled and grated before being pressed lightly into the baking pan, there's a ribbon of jam baked in the middle, and the shortbread is liberally sprinkled with powdered sugar when it's piping hot out of the oven.  Dorie fills her shortbread with homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam, but I had a jar of sugar-free raspberry preserves to use up.  Glad I chose sugar-free because the shortbread is very sweet.  

I reduced the recipe by half and baked it in an 8-inch square pan.  I should also mention that I goofed and set my oven temp 25F higher than I should have - despite my error, the shortbread tasted wonderful although I'm sure it's a bit darker in color than it should have been (easily camouflaged with a sprinkling of powdered sugar).   

The recipe can be found at the following host blogs: 1 Small Kitchen and The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler.  If you're interested in joining this baking group and/or would like to visit other blogs who baked along, visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

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