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Strawberries are rich in antioxidants like pelargonidin, procyanidins, ellagitannins, and ellagic acid. Pelargonidin is an anthocyanin and is responsible for the berry’s bright red color. Strawberry anthocyanins have shown antiproliferative action against murine breast cancer cells.
If you can, grow your own strawberries or buy organic, as the porous skin of this berry absorbs insecticides that can’t be washed off. For this reason, they are listed at the top of the “Dirty Dozen“ by EWG (Environmental Working Group).
Impress your friends and delight your sweet tooth with this decadent Strawberry Carousel recipe. It was sent to CCSA as part of a series of emails from our resident chef, Dr. Linda Doody. She has been sharing her extensive collection of favorite recipes with friends, family, and the CCSA team as a means of maintaining connections during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The kitchen’s a laboratory, and everything that happens there has to do with science. It’s biology, chemistry, physics. Yes, there’s history. Yes, there’s artistry. Yes, to all of that. But what happened there, what actually happens to the food is all science.”
~ Alton Brown
Ingredients
- Hot Milk Sponge Cake
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 Tbsp sweet butter, cut into small pieces (sweet butter is the same as unsalted butter)
- ¾ cup (2⅔ ounces) sifted cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- White Chocolate Mousse with Kirsch
- 9 ounces white chocolate, cut into very small pieces (true white chocolate contains cocoa butter. Use a good white chocolate, such as Nestle’s, Lindt, Tobler or Valrhona. In contrast, white compound, summer coating, or other “white chocolate” contain no cocoa butter and thus cannot be labeled “chocolate”)
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 3 Tbsp Kirsch (Kirsch [or kirschwasser—German for “cherry water”] is a common cherry brandy)
- Strawberry Carousel
- 2 pints whole ripe strawberries, rinsed, drained, and hulled
- ¼ cup strained apricot preserves
- 2 Tbsp finely minced pistachios
Instructions
- Hot Milk Sponge Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch round pan with parchment or wax paper.
- Heat milk with butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Reduce heat to low and keep hot, but do not simmer.
- Sift flour with baking powder twice. Return to sifter and set aside. (Note: A fine metal sieve works just as well.)
- In a large heatproof bowl, use a hand-held whisk to combine sugar, whole eggs, and egg yolks. Set bowl over or in a pan of barely simmering water. Heat mixture, whisking occasionally, until lukewarm to the touch. Transfer bowl to electric mixer and beat at high speed until mixture has cooled, tripled in volume, and has the consistency of thick whipped cream.
- Sift one-third of the flour mixture over the batter and fold in gently by hand, using the largest rubber spatula you have. Fold in half of remaining flour; then fold in remainder.
- Pour the hot milk and butter into the batter and fold well, scraping the bottom each time and bringing the batter up the sides of the bowl until you can no longer see traces of liquid. Turn batter into prepared pan.
- Bake until cake is browned, starts to shrink from the sides of the pan, and springs back when lightly pressed, about 20–30 minutes. Cool cake in the pan on a rack. When cool, run a small knife around the edges to release before unmolding. Unmolded sponge cake can be wrapped well and refrigerated for 1–2 days or frozen for 3 months before using.
- White Chocolate Mousse with Kirsch
- Place chocolate, Kirsch, and 2 tablespoons water in a medium-size heatproof bowl. Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a wide skillet. Turn heat off and wait 30 seconds. Set bowl of chocolate in the pan of hot water. Stir chocolate mixture constantly until melted and smooth. (Or melt chocolate and coffee in a microwave on low [30%] for about 2 minutes. Stir until smooth and completely melted.) Remove chocolate from heat and let cool until a small dab on your upper lip feels slightly cool, about 85°F.
- Whip cream until soft peaks form—not too stiff. Fold carefully into cooled white chocolate mixture; the mousse should seem very soft.
- Strawberry Carousel
- Horizontally cut one even layer, ¾-inch thick, from the sponge cake. (Wrap and freeze remainder of cake for another use.) Place cake layer in the bottom of an 8×3-inch springform pan or a dessert ring with an 8-inch round corrugated cake circle.
- Choose about 10 large berries of equal height. Cut them in half vertically. Arrange them with pointed ends up, fitting cut sides snugly against the inside circumference of the pan. Cut additional berries, if necessary, to completely line the sides of the pan. Leave remaining berries whole and arrange them, pointed ends up, close together all over top of the cake in the pan. Berries must be at least ⅛ inch shorter than the sides of the pan. (If necessary, trim bottoms of any berries that are too tall.)
- Pour white chocolate mousse immediately over berries. Spread the mousse, pushing it into all spaces between berries and making sure that it is in contact with the sides of pan between cut berries. Use a broad spatula to smooth the top of the mousse so it is even with the pan edges. If desired, ripple surface of mousse with a serrated bread knife. Refrigerate in a covered container for at least 4 hours, until set. Dessert may be completed to this point up to 24 hours before serving. Refrigerate in a covered container.
- To unmold and serve, warm pan or dessert circle briefly with a well wrung-out, hot, wet towel. For springform pan, remove sides carefully; smooth sides of dessert with a warm dry metal spatula if necessary. For dessert ring, lift ring sides upward.
- Simmer strained apricot preserves in a very small saucepan for 1–2 minutes to create a glaze. Using a pastry brush, carefully glaze only the sides of the sponge cake and cut surfaces of strawberries; avoid brushing glaze on the mousse. Press minced pistachios against the very lowest edge of the cake layer. Refrigerate in a covered container until serving time.
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