May 10th, 2008
Strawberry Kuchen
Over the last few weeks, Hungry Bear and I have bought a ton of strawberries from Rodriguez Farms, our favorite strawberry vendor at the Serramonte Farmers' Market. The berries were sweet, juicy and a great value, a flat (12 baskets) was only $14. And their organic berries were just a few dollars more.
Needless to say, we've eaten a lot of fresh strawberries lately and needed to make something with them. After pondering what to bake, we decided to turn our amazingly simple blueberry kuchen recipe into a strawberry kuchen. The only changes to the recipe were the substitution of lemon zest and vanilla extract for the cinnamon.
The end result was a delicious strawberry pie that was a snap to make. We love the buttery crust of this kuchen. The baked strawberries turned into a wonderful compote and the pie looked beautiful topped with the fresh berries. We served the kuchen with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and the combination was magnificent!
Strawberry Kuchen Recipe
- 1 cup flour plus 2 tablespoons
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, slightly softened and cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 5 cups fresh strawberries, halved
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of one lemon
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). In medium bowl, mix 1 cup flour, salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with vinegar and shape into dough. With lightly floured fingers, press dough into 9-inch springform pan about 1/4 inch thickness on bottom, less thick and 1 inch high around sides.
- Mix remaining 2 tablespoon flour and 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Add 3 cups strawberries, vanilla extract and lemon zest and gently mix together with sugar and flour. Evenly distribute strawberries on top of dough. Sprinkle any remaining sugar and flour mixture on top of strawberries.
- Bake on the middle rack for 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling bubbles. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for at least 30 minutes. Arrange the remaining 2 cups strawberries on top. Run a pairing knife around the crust edge to separate from the pan before opening springform. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Makes 8 servings
That’s an awesome price on strawberries, I wish I had some of those!
what gorgeous berries! at that price, i’d expect some mutated beasts, but they’re perfect! and that kuchen…dang, is my jealousy showing?
This pie looks stunning! I’m really looking forward to the strawberry season in Estonia now;)
Brilynn, we’ve gone to a few farmers’ market in the area and the price can’t be beat.
Grace, The berries were very good, but we got there late last week and had to take what was left. Usually, we pick and choose and the strawberries are a little bigger and sweeter.
Evelin, thanks! When does strawberry season start in Estonia?
Looks delicious and easy to make. Would it be a crime to make this with frozen strawberries by any chance?
This sounds fabulous! I’m still trying to decide what to do with my berries and I think I’m leaning towards ice cream. But next time I pick some up, I think I’ll be trying this! Yum!
i am absolutely dying over the picture of this pie. beautiful!
I’ve made this twice in the last week. It was wonderful!!!