January 12

Apart from Christmas, I love the winter months for its berries. Winters would not be the same without these tiny little gems of warm colors - scarlet Strawberries, dark blueish Blueberries, warm amber Gooseberries or the pretty purple Mulberries. They lure you to taste them and get lost in the juicy realm of ecstasy. I am not a fruit lover in general but I love all of these berries.

There was a time when winters would essentially mean a quintessential trip to the famous hill station of Maharashtra - Mahabaleshwar. I have lost count of the times I have visited the twin hill station of Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani in the last decade and never did I love a trip less. If not twice, at least once in the December-January span was a must. And one of the main reason was Strawberry - the signature berry of Mahabaleshwar, which is harvested in these winter months. The Strawberry in this region is so popular that its named as the Strawberry land of India. 

If you happen to visit Mahabaleshwar in winter months which is famous for its Gulabi Thandi (the cold air makes your cheeks rosy , hence the name), my recommendation would be to stay in a place which has a Strawberry farm like the Bhilare Farms on the Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar road. Its a pretty property with Strawberry farms around. The owners and the staff in this hill station are quite friendly and would walk you through the beautiful plantation of strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and mulberry. You can pluck and eat the fruits right off the ground, and also buy them in small quantities.

The Strawberry saplings are brought in from some of the best places in the world Italy, Spain, Poland and California, among others and cultivated here. Almost all year round this place had a nice and cold weather hence the Strawberries thrive beautifully. I mean if you travel even in the Summers, the morning might be a little warm but by the time the evening comes, everything will be pretty pleasant and you may even experience some chills later in the evening.

Also if you are interested, there is a Strawberry Carnival that happens in these hill stations every year around the Easter Weekend in March-April. It is to promote tourism and awareness about the fruit. It is a 4-Day celebration where you can pick fresh berries from the farms like Interdown, Camarosa, Sweet Charlie, Winter Dawn, Rania, etc. and not to forget the globally well-known Mahabaleshwar strawberry, gorge on a variety of strawberry delicacies, and learn about how strawberries are cultivated and take back with you a bagful of berrilicious memories. This event is organized by strawberry giant Mapro and they come up with a plethora of innovative lip-smacking dishes like strawberry chocolate pizza having rich dark chocolate sauce and topped with strawberries or Chocoberrywitch made from whole wheat bread coated with chocolate sauce and freshly picked strawberries. They even have Strawberry bhel! How interesting is that now? Apart from that you can always choose from their classic menu options like Strawberry with fresh cream or milkshakes. I can go on and on about Mahabaleshwar and Strawberries but let us come back to today's recipe - Fresh Strawberry Butter.

As part of the first Instagram Collaboration of 2021 we were asked to prepare something with Strawberry. I ran through many ideas, but I was sure that I wanted to make something which was not the usual like a milkshake or a jam. Then I remembered a preparation I had when I was in California at one of my friend's homes. A very simple and flavorful fruit butter which she generously slathered on the top of a croissant and with the first bite I was in heaven. The taste and the texture of that butter stuck in my conscience all through these years and I felt this was the perfect opportunity to recreate this beautiful recipe.

Fruit butters are very popular in America and perfect for your lunch table. Its is a sweet spread made of fruit cooked with sugar and whipped with butter. You can make delicious fruit butters with soft fruits like blackberries, raspberry, mulberry, blueberries, peaches or even apples. You can serve the whipped Strawberry butter with a selected choice of bread basket for brunch and transform it into a fancy affair! 

This is one of the most easiest recipes I have ever made and one of the most delicious. Did I mention super fun too? Got some fresh strawberry and a little butter? How about some sugar? And a little salt? Okay we are good to go for an amazing seasonal preparation right away! 

Store this fresh strawberry butter in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for several week. They store very well that way. But still it is recommended you make them in small batches so that you can enjoy them fresh. This fresh strawberry butter pairs up really well with a batch of piping hot and fluffy buttermilk biscuits. I will be putting up the recipe of the Buttermilk Biscuits in my next blog.

They are even great as personalized gifts. So the next time you want to gift someone who loves food , make this butter and gift it. They will love and bless you till the end :).

Be sure to try it out till the Strawberry season lasts, otherwise you will be missing out on something super delicious for sure!

Tips for Making Perfect Strawberry Butter

1. Avoid using a food processor as it can cause the butter and strawberry to separate from each other. 
2. Make sure all the ingredients are fresh
3. I recommend to make small batches as they are best eaten fresh.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

• Unsalted Butter - 100 gm ( 1 stick) at room temperature
• Fresh Strawberries - 10 -15 medium (sweet and fragrant)
• Powdered Sugar - 1 tbsp + as required per taste
• Salt - 1/4th tsp

Equipment:

• Big Mixing Bowl (chilled for 10 minutes before use)
• Electric Blender or Hand Blender
• Spatula
• Sterilized Glass Bottle

Procedure 

1.  Wash the strawberries and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Then cut them into small pieces and add 1/2 tsp of powdered sugar. Mix well and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl cream the unsalted butter (room temperature), rest of the powdered sugar , salt with a electric mixer or hand mixer till the color of the butter becomes whitish, and the texture fluffy.

Tip 1: Make sure the butter is at room temperature. Keeping the butter out of the fridge for about 30 minutes to 1 hour helps in softening the butter and can be easily whipped. I used a hand blender for this recipe.

Tip 2: You can also use honey instead of the powdered sugar for a variation in flavor.

3. Now add the strawberries into the butter. If there is any juice below don't add it to the butter. Mash some of the fruit pieces with a spatula into the butter. Mix everything again until the butter takes a rosy pink hue. Taste the butter at this stage and adjust the sugar level or strawberry as per your liking. (I kept adding strawberries till I was satisfied!)

Tip: I prefer a chunky fruity butter - a butter which ample fruit pieces for that added texture and look totally works for me! Hence after whipping the butter with the strawberry I added some more strawberry pieces and just folded them in so that they retain their texture and bite in the butter and make them look prettier too.

4. Sterilize a glass jar and spoon in boiling water (jar should be heat proof). If you are not sure just have some warm water and dip in the open jar for a while. Take out the jar let the steam go off and it cools down a bit. Once the jar has cooled down, spoon in the Strawberry butter and store it.

How to Refrigerate the Butter

Store it in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for about a week or in the freezer for several weeks. I usually try to bring it to room temperature before serving but it spreads well even when a little cooler, thanks to all that whipping!