Strawberries in wine are considered a Spanish dessert, but similar recipes are also found in Italian and French cuisines. At the same time, the dish itself can be made both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, it all depends on the duration of cooking.
Large ripe and overripe sweet berries are ideal for cooking. You can also use frozen fruits (do not defrost first, add immediately to heated wine), but the aroma will be less noticeable.
The choice of wine is very wide, only dry and dessert drinks are not suitable, since in the first case the dessert will turn out to be too sour, in the second – cloying.
Strawberries in red wine are considered classics, but on the basis of white wine, the taste is lighter and more summery, especially if you add at least a couple of mint leaves.
Ingredients:
- fresh strawberries – 500 grams;
- red or white wine – 250 ml;
- sugar – 150-200 grams;
- orange peel – from half the fruit;
- cinnamon – 1 small stick (optional);
- fresh mint – 1 sprig (for white wine);
- whipped cream – for serving with red wine.
strawberry wine recipe
1. Wash the strawberries, remove the stalks, cut large berries into 2-4 parts. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and leave for 10-20 minutes for the pulp to release its juice.
2. Scald orange with boiling water, then rinse in warm running water and wipe dry. Using a knife or vegetable peeler, being careful not to touch the white bitter flesh, remove the upper yellow part of the peel from the fruit – the zest.
3. Pour the resulting zest with a small amount of boiling water (50-100 ml) and boil for 5 minutes over low heat to remove a specific burning taste. Remove the boiled zest from the water and pat dry with a paper towel.
4. Pour the wine into a saucepan. Add sugar, cinnamon and orange zest. Heat the mixture over low heat to 65-70 ° C (the first bubbles appeared, but the wine did not boil), then remove from the stove, add the strawberries along with the juice released from the berries, mix and cover.
To prepare a non-alcoholic dessert, bring the wine to a boil and boil for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, then all the alcohol will evaporate.
5. After the contents of the pot have cooled to room temperature, remove the orange zest, cinnamon and mint, then transfer the strawberries in wine to the refrigerator and leave for at least 2-3 hours to soak.
6. The dish can be used as a separate dessert, served in deep bowls with cream (based on red wine), or as a syrup for ice cream and other sweet treats.
