Homemade Strawberry Puree (or strawberry coulis) is the best way to add fresh, natural flavor to your desserts! Made from just two ingredients - real strawberries and sugar - this delicious puree can be used to flavor, fill, and garnish your bakes!
As a recipe developer, it is important to me to create recipes that use ingredients that are easy to find. There are many delicious strawberry-flavored desserts that use strawberry extract or emulsion - while there's nothing wrong with this, it's not something you can easily find in your local grocery store, not to mention the extra ingredients! That's why I try to use real ingredients to flavor my dessert recipes wherever possible, and this strawberry puree is a surprisingly easy way to add punchy berry flavor to desserts.
A lot of people are intimidated by the idea of making their own fresh fruit purees, but it really couldn't be a more quick and simple process! With only two natural ingredients, anyone can make this easy strawberry puree recipe to give bakes the most authentic, real flavor as possible. Add to cakes, frostings, mousses, or custards. Or use as a delicious filling or topping. This strawberry puree will be a gamechanger for your fruity desserts, and you can make it with fresh or frozen strawberries.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- All the flavor comes from REAL strawberries - nothing artificial.
- It can be used as a filling or drizzle, or to add flavor to sponges and frosting.
- Use fresh or frozen strawberries.
Ingredients
This super simple strawberry puree has only two ingredients.
- Strawberries - The star of the show! You can use either fresh strawberries or frozen strawberries. If it's strawberry season and you can get your hands on some really high-quality sweet strawberries, then fresh is great.
- Sugar - You want regular white sugar for this recipe.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Strawberry Puree
Once you make this great fruit puree with very little effort, you'll never go back to store-bought extracts and flavorings.
Heat Strawberries
Place the washed strawberries and sugar in a high-sided saucepan over medium-high heat.
If you are using fresh strawberries rather than frozen, add a small splash of water to make up for the missing moisture.
Break Down Strawberries
Keep stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves and the strawberries start to break down.
Once softened, squish the strawberries with a potato masher or fork to help the process along.
This is the same method used in my Strawberry Pie recipe.
Boil
Continue to stir until boiling, and keep boiling until the mixture has thickened and looks slightly gelatinous. This could take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.
Once the mixture has thickened, remove from the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Blend
Put the strawberry reduction into a food processor or blender and blitz for a few seconds until smooth.
Strain and Cool
You can leave your puree slightly lumpy. If you'd prefer a perfectly smooth and uniform strawberry coulis, pass the pureed strawberries through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl to remove any pieces of fiber or seeds.
Cover with plastic wrap and let the strawberry puree cool completely before using.
What is Strawberry Puree?
Strawberry purée really just means smooshed-up strawberries. Fruit puree is just any fruit that has been blended to a liquid or paste. To turn puree into coulis, the fruit mixture needs to be passed through a fine mesh strainer to remove any fibers, chunks or seeds, making it fine and smooth.
Technically, if you just put whole strawberries into a food processor, that would be strawberry puree. But we are making a reduced strawberry puree, which means it has had the excess liquid removed.
This is great for baking because liquid is not our friend in cake batter or frosting, so it allows us to get a much stronger strawberry flavor without adding all the extra liquid.
How to use Strawberry Coulis
There are a variety of ways you can use your strawberry puree or strawberry coulis now that you know how easy it is to make! I love to make a big batch whenever I make it, so I have leftover puree to use in other ways.
- Baking - It's great to use in cake batter or desserts to get a strong strawberry flavor without messing up the liquid ratios of a recipe, like in my Strawberry Angel Food Cake.
- Frosting - Because of the consistency, it's also great to add to frostings. I used it in my Chocolate Strawberry Cake Recipe.
- Filling - Use it as for fresh fruit filling inside desserts such as tarts, donuts ,or cupcakes - like in my Strawberry Cupcakes.
- Dessert Toppings - It's really great as a topping on desserts like ice cream or something like my Chocolate Lava Cakes, or over breakfasts such as French toast or your morning granola.
- Drinks - Add your strawberry coulis to drinks for some delicious cocktails or strawberry lemonade. You might also like my Strawberry Syrup recipe for this.
Variations
As this recipe has such simple ingredients, the sky is really the limit with what extra things you could add in there to customize it:
- Strawberry Basil Coulis - For an elevated version, add a few basil leaves into the saucepan at the beginning. They will be blended and strained out, but still leave their incredible flavor behind!
- Spiced Strawberry Coulis - For a warm, holiday flavor, add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ginger or whatever spices you like for some heat and cozy vibes.
- Lemon Juice - Some people like to add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to their puree to balance out the natural sweetness. The citric acid also helps to preserve the puree.
- Sweetness Variation - You can alter the amount of sugar in the coulis to suit your taste - whether you just add a little or a lot of sugar, you can make this as sweet as you like!
- Sugar Alternatives - You can also play with different natural sweeteners in there, try replacing some or all of the sugar with maple syrup or brown sugar.
- Other Fruit - This strawberry puree recipe works really well with other fruits, especially fresh berries. Try it with blueberries, cherries, or raspberries - like in my Raspberry Cupcakes.
Equipment
- Medium Saucepan - Preferably with high sides to catch the spitting strawberry puree.
- Food Processor - Any food processor or regular blender will do. You could also use an immersion blender.
- Fine Mesh Sieve - If you want to strain the puree to make a coulis, you'll need something to strain out the pieces of fiber.
- Potato Masher - This is optional, but I like to squish the strawberries to help them along as they cook.
Storage
How you store your strawberry puree depends on how soon you plan to use it.
- Short-term: If using quickly, cover it in a bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let it come to room temperature before adding to batters or frostings. This will stay good for a couple of days.
- Longer-term: Store it in a mason jar in the fridge, where it should keep for about a week.
- As a sauce: Transfer to a squeeze bottle for easy use and fancy plating - this will keep in the fridge for about 5 days.
- Freezing: Pour into freezer bags or airtight containers, removing as much air as possible. Alternatively, freeze in ice cube trays for single fruity servings (flexible ice cube trays are easiest to get out). Frozen puree lasts up to 3 months. To thaw, leave in the fridge overnight or microwave briefly.
FAQ
If you have a question about this recipe that isn't answered here, feel free to write it in the comment section, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
The best way to judge the thickness is to watch closely. I prefer a thicker puree, so I keep boiling until it looks slightly gelatinous and gloopy - when it takes a split second longer to settle back in the pan as you stir. This consistency is perfect for baking, as it packs in flavor without adding too much liquid. It usually takes me about 15 minutes.
Technically, the only difference between puree and coulis is that coulis has been passed through a fine mesh sieve to remove any fiber or seeds. This makes for a much finer sauce consistency with not lumps or chunks of fruit. Both strawberry puree and strawberry coulis are made with berries and sugar.
Recipes that Use Strawberry Puree
Use your fruit puree or coulis in these awesome recipes:
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Recipe
Strawberry Puree (Strawberry Coulis)
Equipment
- Food Processor or blender
Ingredients
- 16 oz Strawberries (450g) fresh or frozen
- ½ cup Extra-Fine White Sugar (100g)
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries in cold water and drain the excess water.16 oz Strawberries
- Put the strawberries into the saucepan along with the sugar and heat on a medium heat. If the strawberries are fresh, add a small splash of water to the pan too (not required for frozen strawberries).½ cup Extra-Fine White Sugar
- Heat, stirring occasionally until the strawberries start to soften and break down. Mash them a little with a potato masher or wooden spoon to help them.
- Let the strawberries come to a boil, keep stirring every now and again and boil them for about 15 minutes or until the mixture has thickened slightly and looks a little gelatinous.
- Remove from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
- Put the strawberry reduction into a food processor or blender and blitz for a few seconds until completely smooth.
- Pour the strawberry puree into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve to remove any excess fiber or seeds.
- Let cool completely before using.
Notes
It really helps and I love hearing all your feedback!
Natahleigh
Dreamy! And simple 😀 Can’t wait to try this!