Strawberry Overload

We ventured out to the strawberry fields near our house recently. Our daughter tried to eat as many as she could. We were able to smuggle an extra pint of berries out of the field in her stomach. The weather was perfect, it was overcast with the possibility of some rain which kept the crowds in the field to a minimum. The whole family was caught up in the fun of being outside, getting dirty, and picking berries. Before we knew it we had picked a heaping flat of strawberries. Now we had to figure out how to eat all these between the three of us.

The first order of business was to drink a round of strawberry milkshakes. This was followed the next morning with a plate of gluten free pancakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream. (not pictured) Later in the day, I noticed a new post from Tartlette in my blog roll. The Tartlette post was a recipe for Strawberry and Rhubarb Pate De Fruit. Please check it out, the pictures are mouth watering. I decided to give the recipe a try to use up some of our strawberries. I just omitted the rhubarb.
Strawberry Pate De Fruit
adapted from Tartlette
13 ounces of sliced strawberries (just over 1-1/2 cups)
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 cups sugar (divided)
2-1/2 Tbs Certo liquid pectin
Line a 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.Slice the strawberries and puree them really well in a food processor. Strain the fruits over a heavy saucepan and add the lemon juice.(do not use a fine mesh strainer, I used a larger holed pasta colander) Stir in 1/2 cup sugar and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook until its temperature register 113F, stirring constantly. Add the remaining 1-1/2 cups sugar and the pectin to the pot and slowly bring the mixture to 200F, still over medium high heat while stirring constantly. Turn the heat down a bit and keep the mixture at 200F for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat back up and slowly bring the mixture to 223F. Keep it there for an additional 2-3 minutes (turn the heat down if necessary to do so). Remove from the heat and immediately pour the mixture into your pan lined with parchment paper. Let set for a couple of hours. Cut shapes with a sharp knife and roll the pieces of pate de fruit in sugar. Refrigerate if not eating all of them at once.

Puree berries

Cook as directed above

Pour into a parchment lined 8x8 baking dish. Allow to cool for a couple hours on the counter then refrigerate. Sprinkle sugar over the top, then invert onto a cutting board. Cut into squares and coat liberally with granulated sugar. The Pate De Fruit is EXTREMELY sticky unless well coated with sugar. My pictures are nowhere near as dazzling as Tartlette's. However, the taste is phenomenal. These little squares can best be described as a supercharged fruit roll-up on crack. Unfortunately, that name isn't as elegant as Pate De Fruit, so I'll stick with that.

I still had a ton of strawberries left over, so I tried my hand at canning a few jars of strawberry jam. I am pleased with the final results of the jam. My red stained hands are exhausted and I may take a little break from eating strawberries for the near future. However, now is the time to get out of the house and pick up some fresh berries. There are so many great treats just waiting to be made. Enjoy!!!