Strawberry-Strawberry Sauce

When I lived in Mississippi (and Alabama, and California), I never appreciated springtime that much. Especially in the South, although the beautiful dogwoods and azaleas certainly put a smile on my face, springtime usually meant that the stifling heat was not far behind.

However, winter can be cold and dark here in northern Europe, so springtime is something to celebrate. Time to cast aside the root vegetables and cook up some asparagus! Time to give up the applesauce and make strawberry sauce!

This is one of the easiest recipes in this book: it's basically a strawberry smoothie that gets strained and can be poured over almost everything. The first night we had it, we poured it over pound cake with strawberries and crème fraîche. Sophisticated strawberry shortcake.

The next morning, it went over lemon pancakes with a bit more crème fraîche. And finally that afternoon, I ate the rest with some plain yogurt. All fabulous.

I would make two notes on this recipe: I used really wonderful strawberries for it--so wonderful (and expensive!!) that I worried that it would be a waste to put them in a sauce (it wasn't). Even though you add a few flavor enhancers to the sauce, it won't make mediocre strawberries taste that much better.

Second note: I really made "strawberry-currant" sauce, using red currant jelly and Cassis instead of strawberry jam and Kirsch. This was a matter of personal preference, and I would tinker with this based on what you like and what's in your pantry/liquor cabinet.

Here's the recipe. Take 10 minutes to make the most of spring.

Strawberry-Strawberry Sauce

3 T. water

3 T. strawberry (or other) jam

2 T. sugar (I forgot this and didn't miss it. Taste your strawberries and decide whether you want it or not.)

8-9 oz. fresh strawberries, hulled and rinsed

1/2 t. lemon juice

2 t. Kirsch or other liqueur

Put the water, jam, and sugar (if you're using it) in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave about 45 seconds, until the jam has melted.

Put the berries in a blender or food processor and purée. Add the jam mixture and blend again briefly. Pour through a strainer into a bowl; add the lemon juice and liqueur. Refrigerate and serve cold with a number of things.