Strawberry Crush

Homemade Strawberry Crush Recipe

Homemade Strawberry Crush

This is the first time I’m making crush from scratch and the experience was totally exhilarating. The kiddo who came along with the guests simply loved the Lemonade and shakes that I made of strawberries and I knew that they will not be getting that fruit in their town and also after that I could not find the fruit in the market too. So I decided to make a crush of strawberry when H got me 3 boxes of it after I mentioned it to him. I have watched my Mom making lemon crush when Grandma used to bring loads of them from her backyard. So just recollected and went by my instincts and oh my I made my first homemade crush.


I did not use any preservatives while making this as I did not have any at hand and did not want to use as well. I believe you have to use Sodium Benzoate for the preservative if you want to store for a longer period. I made it 3 weeks ago and it is still keeping good despite not using the preservative. I’m waiting for the kids to make their appearance and try out the Lemonade that I had posted earlier as they had been demanding it ever since they accessed the blog from my SIL’s place. Seems there is no escaping them.

Unfortunately, I could not take step wise pictures but I have tried not to miss any points. Do not miss the citric acid in the recipe. It not only acts as a preservative in itself but also prevents the contents from crystallization.


Homemade Strawberry Crush
You’ll need:

Strawberries – 600 gms ( I used 3 (200gms) boxes)
Sugar – 1200 gms / 6 cups
Citric Acid – 1 + 1/2 tbsp
Water – 3 cups / 600 ml
Red Food Color – 3/4 tsp ( I used Raspberry Red)


Method:
Before you begin make sure that you have sun dried, clean, food grade storage bottles ready at hand.

Wash and hull the strawberries and keep aside. Place them in a mixer and pulse at regular intervals. It should be pulpy in consistency and not become a paste. After 4-5 times at the mixer I transferred to this Chatti you see below which made the job just perfect for me. Keep aside.

Heat water in a deep pan. when it hot add the sugar and keep stirring with a ladle till it dissolves completely. Pass the solution through a fine sieve to remove scum floating on top.

Heat the clean sugar syrup again till it reaches sticky consistency like you would do for Gulab Jamoon. No need for any string consistency. Take off stove and let it cool completely.

Once cool add the strawberry pulp, red food color and citric acid and mix well. Let the crush come to room temperature. Transfer to bottles and store in the fridge. Use as required to make Strawberry

Lemonade or Milkshakes.

Here is the Lemonade that I made using the crush. I just added 3 tbsp of strawberry crush in place of the fruit and it turned out so yummy. I could not tell the difference at all. It tasted the same as though I had used fresh fruit instead of crush.

Notes:

In case you are using citric acid in crystal form, dissolve them in some warm water before adding to the pulp.
Shake the bottle well before each use as the pulp may have settled at the bottom.
Use clean bottles for storage.
Store the bottles in the refrigerator shelf and do not freeze them.


Read more: http://www.ticklingpalates.com/2012/06/homemade-strawberry-crush-recipe.html