Happy strawberry season!
Strawberry season in Canada is from June to July, so now is the perfect time to visit a local farm and enjoy picking your own strawberries right off the stem.
That is exactly what we did, as well as made some yummy strawberry treats!
The Farm
Around this time last year, I was in Germany on the CSSG program. On one of my free days, my host mom and I went strawberry picking at a local farm. It was such a fun time and a memory I hold near to my heart.
This year, I wanted to do the same, but in Canada.
Over the weekend, my mom and I went to this farm called Great Lakes Farms for U-Pick strawberries. This farm had an interesting payment setup.
They went with the honour systems, meaning no one was there to watch us pick the strawberries and no one was there to collect payment. Instead, they had a sign and a payment box. This is pretty common in the countryside in Canada.
The farm my host mom and I went to in Germany, however, did it differently. They charged by weight, I believe, and so someone was there to weigh the berries we picked before collecting payment.
My mom and I grabbed a few quart sized boxes from the bin and got to picking. We picked 7 quarts of strawberries and bought another 6 quarts from the farm. The strawberries were smaller in comparison to the strawberries in Germany, but they were still yummy and perfect for making jam!
My host mom not only made jam out of the strawberries we picked, but also this unbelievably delicious strawberry short cake. My mom and I tried to make both these treats again, but in Canada.
Strawberry Jam
From 7 quarts of strawberries, we made 4 2-cup jars, 6 1-cup jars, and 2 1/2-cup jars. I won't be able to eat the jam just yet as these jars are meant for the winter time, but I did sneak a taste while canning.
The jam is very sweet, much sweeter than store bought jam, but that isn't surprising. Ripe strawberries are already quite sweet and the jam needed 4/12 cups of sugar for every 6 cups of mashed strawberries.
When my mom and I were making the jam, we just followed the recipe on the pectin box for strawberry jam.
To see the jam making process in motion, check out my Youtube Short.
Strawberry Short Cake
The cake my host mom made was this delicious gluten free white cake with whole strawberries on top, that were held on by vanilla pudding. It was sweet and rich. The idea was to make something very similar to that, but the plan changed ever so slightly.
I made a gluten free white cake, but I think I took it out of the oven too early since the middle caved in and was slightly underdone.
I topped the cake with slices strawberries instead of whole strawberries, and held it all together with a glaze instead of a pudding.
Then I added a layer of powdered sugar, but it soaked right into the glaze. However, it still looked really beautiful so maybe it was a happy accident.
I'm definitely still learning how to bake and, with everything needing to be gluten free and lactose free, it makes it all that much harder. I also haven't quite perfected how to get gluten free baked goods to raise nicely. If you have any tips, please do leave them in the comments below.
That said however, the cake is delicious! The glazed strawberries are so sweet. The cake has an almond flavour and a beautiful cookie like crust with a soft center. I'd say, I did a pretty good job overall!
Picking strawberries, as well as cooking and baking with them, is always such a fun and tasty experience. Get out and enjoy strawberry season to the fullest while you still can!
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