Cocktails with Fresh strawberries
Fresh strawberries are the sweet red fruit of the garden strawberry, muddled or juiced for fruit flavor and color.
How it's used
To muddle, hull them and press gently. They are mostly water and give up their juice easily. Grinding them hard brings out a dull, seedy note. Buy them ripe: a strawberry does not ripen off the plant, so one picked early never sweetens. Basil, balsamic and black pepper are their classic partners.
Substitutes for Fresh strawberries
Frozen strawberries
Swap in one for one. In a blended drink, use them straight from the freezer to chill it as they blend.
Strawberry purée
Works at 10–12 ml per medium berry. Many are sweetened, so you will need less syrup.
Wild strawberries
Far smaller and more fragrant, with little juice. Muddled, they give scent but barely any body.
Can replace plain sugar syrup and bring a berry flavor, but it cannot replace the fruit itself.
Storage
A few days in the fridge, unwashed, in a single layer if there is room. Moisture rots them, so wash them at the last moment. Hull after washing, not before, or the berry takes on water through the cut. They pick up fridge smells, so keep them covered.
