Strawberry Spring
Many kinds of fresh fruit in Hong Kong are quite cheap: bananas, oranges, dragonfruit, Asian pears. Even watermelon, pineapple and coconut are inexpensive when compared to prices at home. Berries, however, are just the opposite.
In the states, berries are cheap when they are in season, but here, they never are. They are always imported to begin with, and therefore are rather pricey. A flat of blueberries (which equals a cup I think) can cost $30 HK, or $4 US. But several weeks ago, I bought a few containers on sale for about $1.50 US, which was very exciting.
When I was in Korea, I ate strawberries on more than one occasion, and it made me remember how delicious they are. Then, I realized it was springtime and that I would be eating lots of strawberry shortcake if I were at home. So, imagine my delight when strawberries at the grocery store were also reduced from $5 to $2.50 US for one pint. Still not a great price, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.
To accompany my strawberries, I decided to make a real cake instead of shortcake, mostly because I had 2 eggs that needed to be eaten. After a great deal of searching -- no one likes to make plain vanilla cake, I guess -- I found this recipe for Cream Cake from Martha Stewart.
It turned out perfectly, even though I only used two eggs and not the additional two egg yolks. I have just eaten the last bit today, topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream from a can, as well as strawberries in a can (also on sale) -- who knew!
In the states, berries are cheap when they are in season, but here, they never are. They are always imported to begin with, and therefore are rather pricey. A flat of blueberries (which equals a cup I think) can cost $30 HK, or $4 US. But several weeks ago, I bought a few containers on sale for about $1.50 US, which was very exciting.
When I was in Korea, I ate strawberries on more than one occasion, and it made me remember how delicious they are. Then, I realized it was springtime and that I would be eating lots of strawberry shortcake if I were at home. So, imagine my delight when strawberries at the grocery store were also reduced from $5 to $2.50 US for one pint. Still not a great price, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.
To accompany my strawberries, I decided to make a real cake instead of shortcake, mostly because I had 2 eggs that needed to be eaten. After a great deal of searching -- no one likes to make plain vanilla cake, I guess -- I found this recipe for Cream Cake from Martha Stewart.
It turned out perfectly, even though I only used two eggs and not the additional two egg yolks. I have just eaten the last bit today, topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream from a can, as well as strawberries in a can (also on sale) -- who knew!
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