strawberries

July 8 2025

Strawberry and cream cheese cake

andrestover Bakes, Cakes strawberries, creamy cheese 0

In the summer, you have to make at least one pastry with strawberries. I combined lemon shortcrust pastry, cream cheese, and strawberries and made this cake. I made an exception and tried this cake myself, but only because of the wonderful company I had while eating it. Also, a minor observation. This cake is especially delicious when fresh peppermint leaves are eaten with it, rather than just taken as part of the garnish.

Preparation time: 1.5 hours
Level: easy
Quantity: One cake, 12-16 slices

Ingredients:
Dough:
200 g cold butter
400 g flour
80 g sugar
Freshly grated zest of one lemon
2 medium eggs

Filling:
400 g cream cheese. I used classic Philadelphia cheese
100 g sugar
100 g sour cream
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tbsp flour
2 medium eggs

Topping:
About 1 kg of fresh strawberries, cut into slices
Fresh mint leaves

Preparation:

Chop the butter or mix it with the flour until it forms a uniform crumb.
Add the sugar, eggs, and grated lemon zest.
Knead the dough until smooth. Stop kneading as soon as the dough is smooth. This dough does not need to form a gluten network, and the dough should be rather fragile when frozen.
Place the dough in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes at +4 degrees, then it will be easier to work with.
Roll the dough into a thin 4-5 mm thick dough disk and line a cake tin with it. Trim the edges and place the cake tin with the dough in the refrigerator at +4 degrees for about 30 minutes or at -20 degrees, where it can also be filled.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Cover the dough layer with baking paper and pour peas on it so that the cake base does not sink while baking and holds its shape.
Prick holes in the cake base with a fork and bake for 15 minutes.
For the filling, mix the cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar, sour cream and flour in a bowl. Mix until smooth. Use a mixer if necessary.
Pour the cream cheese filling onto the cake base and bake at 150 degrees C for about 30 minutes until the cream cheese filling starts to set slightly.
Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool, and place it in the refrigerator at +4 degrees for at least 2 hours. During this time, the cream cheese layer will set and will not flow when served.
Cut the strawberries into slices and place them in a thick layer on the surface of the cake. Cover the surface of the cake evenly with strawberries. Add young mint leaves for garnish.
Ready!!

April 15 2023

Strawberry Insalata Caprese

andrestover Salads basil, mozzarella, strawberries, blackberries 0

A classical way to prepare Insalata Caprese is to use three main ingredients: high-quality mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, but if you replace cherry tomatoes with strawberries, you get a very tasty salad, which in its essence is similar to Caprese, but gives a completely different taste experience. In addition to strawberries, cultivated blueberries can also be used, as well as high-quality balsamic vinegar and, of course, black pepper and sea salt.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Level: Easy
Serves: two

Ingredients:
One whole mozzarella ball (about 150g), the salad is also very good with burrata
A handful of strawberries, cut into desired pieces
A few handfuls of cultured blueberries
Basil shoot tips
Bassamico for sprinkling on a salad
Season with black pepper and sea salt

Preparation:

Cut the strawberries into sectors, place them on a plate, sprinkle them with cultivated blueberries and basil leaves, and shoot tips.
Mozzarella can be cut or torn into pieces, but it is very nice to serve it as a whole ball.
Drizzle high-quality balsamic (e.g. Goccia Nera) over the salad and add a little freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.
Ready!!

March 8 2023

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

andrestover Bakes, Cookies strawberries, creamy cheese 0

Large cookies with soft cheese and strawberry filling, which are also suitable for the celebration.

Preparation time: about 2 hours
Level: Medium
Quantity: About 35 larger cookies

Ingredients:
450 g room temperature butter
200 g of brown sugar
200 g of white granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
0.5 teaspoon of sea salt
650 g of flour

500 g of cream cheese
80 g of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
400 g of strawberries chopped

Preparation:

Whisk room temperature butter with sugar and vanilla sugar to whith foam.
Add eggs, salt, baking powder, and flour and mix into a smooth, soft dough.
Prepare the filling. To do this, mix cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla sugar. Cut the strawberries into pieces and mix them into the cream cheese mixture.
Form a ball of dough about the size of a golf ball or slightly smaller between your hands, and press it flat layer of dough in the palm.
Place the dough layer in the palm of your hand and form a shallow bowl in the middle of which put 1 teaspoon of the filling.
Fold the edges of the dough together from all sides so that the cream cheese filling remains inside the ball of dough. Carefully roll the dough into a ball.
Place the filled dough ball on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Leave about 5-7 cm gaps between the balls and bake at 180 degrees C for 15-17 minutes until the edges of the cookies start to brown.
Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool.
Ready!!

July 15 2022

Cheese salad with roasted tomatoes and strawberries

andrestover Salads basil, grill cheese, strawberries, tomato 0

A light summer salad that is good to prepare while the strawberries are still available and delicious. Balsamic vinegar goes well with both strawberries and roasted tomatoes.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Level: Easy
Serves: two

Ingredients:
4 slices of grilled cheese
1 medium tomato cut in half or into four thick slices
10 strawberries, cut in half
A piece of fresh cucumber
A handful of lettuce or frills, any other salad you like is fine
Chopped green onions
Cooking oil for frying cheese and tomatoes
Salt and black pepper to taste
1-2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar for seasoning
Basil leaves for seasoning, if desired

Preparation:

Cut slices of grilled cheese about 1 cm thick and fry them with a few tablespoons of cooking oil on medium heat until the cheese is lightly browned.
Put the cheese aside and fry in the same pan at a higher heat until the tomato browns slightly and becomes softer. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange the other components of the salad on the plate, frills or lettuce, cucumber, green onion, basil.
Put the cheese slices on top of the salad and the fried tomato slices next to them.
Cut the strawberries in half and sprinkle over the salad. Pour a little balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes and strawberries.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Ready!!

August 14 2021

Chocolate cake with lemon marzipan cream

andrestover Bakes, Cakes strawberries, chocolate, creamy cheese 0

I made this cake for Krista’s birthday in August 2021. Chocolate cakes can be made in hundreds of different variants. This is a more serious, juicy, richly chocolate variant, which is given a slightly more sour tone by the lemon marzipan cream. By following this recipe, you can make a high, 6-layered cake with a diameter of 21 cm, but it can also be made with fewer layers.

Cooking time: About 3 hours from the start of baking until the cake is assembled
Level: average
Quantity: 16 slices, 19 cm cake tin

Ingredients:

Cake bases:
190 g of wheat flour
3 medium eggs
250 g of granulated sugar
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
80 g of dark cocoa powder
220 g 82% farm butter
200 g of dark chocolate with 70% cocoa content
200 g of cream cheese
vanilla

Chocolate cream
150 g butter
100 g of sugar
60 g almond flour
200 g of cream cheese
vanilla sugar
150 g of dark chocolate

Lemon marzipan cream
150 g of almond flour
150 g icing sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
water if the cream is too thick

Preparation:
1. Make cake bases. To do this, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, add the remaining components. Using electric mixer mix until smooth.
2. Divide the dough into three 21 cm cake tins and bake at 150 degrees for about 35-40 minutes until the test tube is clean.
3. Cool the cake bases completely
4. To make the chocolate cream, melt the butter and chocolate on low heat, mix the rest of the cream components until a beautiful shiny cream. Allow cooling in the refrigerator for about an hour to make the cream less flowing
5. To make lemon marzipan, mix almond flour with icing sugar, add lemon juice and mix into the dough. If the dough is too thick, add water. The marzipan I used for the cake cream was rollable but quite soft and sticky.
6. When the cake bases have cooled, cut them crosswise into two layers.
7. Place one layer on a serving plate and spread generously a chocolate cream. Cover with the next layer, apply a layer of marzipan.
8. Use a regular rolling pin or glass bottle to roll the marzipan. Shake the icing sugar on the work surface and roll the marzipan piece into a cake the size of a layer about 0.5 cm thick. Place it on the base of the cake.
9. Do the same with all layers of cake. Cover them in turn with chocolate cream and marzipan layer.
10. Cover the sides and surface of the cake with chocolate cream. Garnish the cake with fresh strawberries or other berries.
11. It would be best to eat it when this cake has been standing overnight or even for two days
Ready !!

July 13 2021

Mini-pavlova

andrestover Bakes egg, strawberries, sugar, whipped cream 0

A mini version of the Pavlova cake, which can be enjoyed in the Tartu café Crepp from the summer of 2021. A cake, rich in whipped cream and fresh seasonal berries. Making Pavlova is much easier than described in most cookbooks and food blogs. Make it at home, but also visit Crepp and enjoy the pavlovas made in a café.

Preparation time: about 1.5 hours
Level: average
Quantity: 12 mini-pavlovas

Ingredients:
6 egg whites
300 g of sugar
200-400 ml whipped cream
Strawberries, raspberries, currants, or other seasonal berries for decoration and seasoning
To decorate lemon balm or mint leaves.
Icing sugar to serve to give the finishing touch to the pavlova.

Preparation:
1. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Save the egg yolks and use them to make an omelet. Make sure that the egg yolks are not broken and that not appear in the egg white. If it does, the egg white does not foam at all.
2. Whisk the egg whites into a heavy foam with an electric mixer.
3. Add sugar and whisk for 7-8 minutes at maximum mixing speed to create a shiny and heavy foam that creates sharp peaks and stays in the desired shape
4. Place 12 non-uniformly shaped pavlovas of similar size on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. There is no need to use a cake spray, with a spoon the shapes will become even more interesting. If desired, make a small cavity in the top of the pavlova with a spoon which eases adding of whipped cream when serving
5. Bake at 150 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Pavlovas must come quite easily off the paper. Since the right pavlova has a crispy surface with a marshmallow-like structure on the inside, sometimes pavlovas may stick to the paper. If necessary, help loosen the pavlovas with a cake spatula
6. Place the prepared pavlova on a plate, prepare whipped cream, which should be without adding anything to season it, and cover the pavlova whipped cream using a cake sprayer or spoon. Garnish with the desired berries and mint or lemon balm leaves.
Ready !!

July 7 2021

Zephyr cake with strawberries

andrestover Bakes, Cakes meringue, strawberries, zephyr 0

A creamy and rich cake that doesn’t taste as sweet as it looks. The pink sour zephyr with a layer of strawberries balances the sweetness of the soft, caramelized meringue. I think this cake is especially suitable for warm summer.

Preparation time: 1.5 hours
Level: average
Quantity: 16 slices of cake

Ingredients:
Crust
170 g butter
200 g of flour
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cold water

Zephyr
3 egg whites
225 g of sugar
60 ml of water
1.5 teaspoons of citric acid
Fingertip salt
Red food color if desired

Soft meringue
4 egg whites
150 g of sugar
In addition, a handful of ripe strawberries is needed to cover the crust
A gas burner is needed to caramelize the egg white.

Preparation:
1. Prepare the dough. Chop the butter and flour until a smooth, semi-dry crumb is formed. Add egg yolks, sugar, and water. Knead the whole mass into a dough. It is not necessary to knead very strongly, the main thing that the dough is even.
2. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees, roll the dough into a disc 0.5 cm thick, which is slightly larger than the cake tin.
3. Place the dough in a form, press against the bottom and sides of the form, cut the rest of the dough.
4. Lining the dough in the form of parchment paper and pouring in the dry peas or a mixture of peas and rice to keep the dough in shape. Bake for 20 minutes until the dough is lightly browned.
5. Remove peas with parchment paper. Punch holes in the bottom of the bottom with a fork to allow air to escape and cook for another 10 minutes to make the bottom crispy. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely
6. Prepare the sapphire. Whisk the egg whites into a strong foam, while preparing the sugar syrup. For the syrup, mix the sugar, citric acid, and water in a thick-bottomed pot and heat over medium heat until the sugar melts and the syrup forms.
7. Stir the syrup constantly. Boil it until the foam disappears. Test syrup readiness. Drop a drop of syrup on the cutting board with a spoon. If it remains rather spherical and does not spread easily, the syrup is ready. Do not boil the syrup for too long. It should not change color at all and should remain clear and transparent. The color-changed syrup will probably make a zephyr with a caramel flavor, but I haven’t tested it.
8. Stir the hot syrup into the egg white while mixing evenly. Mix using an electric mixer at maximum speed until the zephyr starts to slightly loos from the edges of the bowl and will stay in the shape you want it to.
9. Cut the strawberries into suitable pieces and line the bottom of the cake crust. Cover the strawberries with zephyr, smooth the surface. Here you can leave the cake to stand and place it overnight in the fridge covered with foil.
10. To make a meringue coating, whisk the egg whites into a strong foam, add the sugar, and mix at maximum speed for about 5 minutes.
11. Place the egg white mixture in a spray bag and make a pattern on the surface of the zephyr.
12. Carefully caramelize the top surface of the meringue. Be careful not to burn the surface, which can happen very easily. Practice caramelization separately by applying the egg white from the spray bag to a pan or heat-proof plate and try caramelizing before you start working on the cake.
Before serving, keep the zephyr cake at +4 degrees C to make it easier to cut and create a straighter cut line. Serve with strong, bitter coffee
Ready !!

April 1 2021

Creamy curd cake

andrestover Bakes, Cakes curd, strawberries 0

During Easter, many families are baking something from curd. Here is a recipe where I have put together my experience and knowledge in making cheesecakes.
In some ways, it can also be called a cheesecake, although curd is cheese in its most primitive sense and is made in a simple way by coagulating the milk, either by acidifying it or by processing it with rennet.
This curd cake is creamy, fluffy, and suitable for serving with berries or sour jam. When making this cake, it is recommended to follow the recipe as closely as possible, then the cake should be fairly soft and fluffy.

Preparation time: cake preparation 1.5 to 2 hours, plus time for cooling and decorating
Level: average
Quantity: 16 slices of cake

Ingredients:
Dough:
150 g of cold butter
200 g of flour
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons of cold water

Filling:
600g skimmed curd
150g sour cream
150 g whipped cream
200 g of sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
50 g butter
2 heaping tablespoons flour
3 large eggs
1 finely grated orange peel

Coating (optional):
100 ml sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Preparation:

1. Prepare the dough. Chop the butter and flour until a smooth, semi-dry crumb is formed. Add egg yolks, sugar, and water. Knead the whole mass into a dough. It is not necessary to knead very strongly, important is that the dough is even.
2 Preheat oven to 170 degrees, roll out a dough disc 0.5 cm thick, which is slightly larger than a cake tin.
3. Roll the dough lightly around the dough roll and loosen it into the tin. Press the dough against the bottom and sides of the mold, cut, and remove the rest of the dough from the edges.
4. Line the dough in with parchment paper and pour over the dry peas or a mixture of peas and rice to keep the dough in shape during baking. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove baking paper with peas.
5. Mix all the filling components, finely grate the orange peel and add to the filling. Pour the filling into the pre-baked bottom and bake for about 50 minutes. It is very important not to overbake the cake, take it out if it is still shaking and not yet brown. This ensures the juiciness of the cake.
6. Allow the cake to cool completely, for the coating layer, mix the sour cream with the sugar and vanilla sugar and pour over the surface of the cooled cake and spread evenly.
Garnish the cake with fresh berries, serve cold.

Done !!!

August 1 2020

Almond honey cake with strawberry cream

andrestover Bakes, National dishes almond flour, strawberries, whipped cream, honey 0

English-style honey cake served with a mixture of fresh strawberries and whipped cream and sour cream. One of those cakes whose original recipes can be found in British cookbooks. The recipe has been modified to make the cake juicier and less sweet. As the cake is impregnated with plenty of honey, the cake dough itself contains a little less sugar. I prepared it at the end of August 2020 for my good colleague Helian. Wish you all good, strength, and success!!

Preparation time: 1.5 to 2 hours
Level: average
Quantity: one cake, 12-16 slices

Ingredients:
Cake base
330 g butter
50 g of sugar
170 g of honey
2 teaspoons lemon peel
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
250 g of flour
100 g of almond flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
A pinch of sea salt
120 ml of almond milk

Cream:
150 ml whipped cream
100 ml sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A large handful of chopped strawberries

About twenty fresh strawberries to decorate a cake
A couple of tablespoons of almond chips (optional)

Preparation:
1. Whisk the butter, sugar, and half the amount of honey into a foam, add salt, vanilla. You can use the vanilla sugar instead of vanilla extract.
2. Whisk the eggs one by one, lemon zest. Whisk evenly.
3. Add wheat flour, almond flour, and baking powder and almond milk. Whisk evenly.
4. Preheat oven to 150 degrees, pour the dough into a tin and bake for about 45 minutes.
5. If the cake comes out of the oven, then moist it with the rest of the honey. Honey seeps into the cake and sweetens it. Allow the cake pan to cool.
6. To make the cream, whip the whipped cream, mix the sour cream and vanilla, whisk evenly.
7. Sprinkle almond chips on the cooled cake, cover the remaining cake a few centimeters thick with cream and cover with strawberries for decoration.
Done !!!

June 21 2019

Strawberry tart

andrestover Bakes strawberries, wheat flour 0

Summer is the perfect time to eat strawberries. I don’t have an idea to write historical facts about the strawberry tart, but strawberries are grown in culture since the 8th century in France and England. In ancient Rome wild strawberries were used for medical purposes. European kings let strawberries grow in their garden gardens as decorative plants. In today’s strawberry tart, I used again the English biscuit, which I used for making Charlotte cake. This tart is fast to prepare and easy to assemble. It can be a perfect addition to celebrate Estonian midsummer.

Preparation time: 2-3 hours
Level: Easy
Quantity: one cake 12-16 slices

It is recommended to prepare two biscuits, then the cake will be especially rich and thick.

Ingredients (1 Biscuit):
Biscuit
85g sugar
4 big eggs
135g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
0.5 teaspoons vanilla sugar
Filling (for two biscuits)
1.5 kg of strawberries
800 ml of whipped cream

Preparation:
1. Whip the eggs with sugar and vanilla in a light and fluffy foam
2. Mix flour and baking powder
3. Sift flour into the egg foam, mix gently with a spoon. Don’t use an electronic mixer.
4. Bake in 24 cm mold at 200 degrees for 20-30 min.
5. Bake another biscuit in the same way
6. Let cool and cut the biscuits in half to two discs
7. Whip half the whipped cream (use it for layers between the cake)
8. Cut a sufficient amount of strawberries into slices 0.5 cm thick
9. Place the biscuit disc on the serving tray, cover with about 1 cm thick or thicker layer of whipped cream and cover with strawberry slices.
10. Plase second biscuit layer on top of the strawberries and cover with whipped cream and strawberry slices.
11. Do the same with the third layer.
12. Whip the remaining cream, cut some strawberries into sectors or pieces as you like.
12. Fourth, the top layer cover generously with whipped cream also cover the edges of the cake. You can decorate the whipped cream layer with a spoon or knife.
13. Cover and decorate with cut strawberries.
You can let the cake stand, you can serve it right away it will be good in both ways.
Ready !!