How to make strawberry purée for baking - cooked down into a thick reduction that adds a strong, natural strawberry flavour to cakes, frostings, and desserts.
Strawberry Puree Recipe Snapshot
What it is: A reduced strawberry sauce made with fresh or frozen strawberries.
Why you'll love it: Made with real strawberries - nothing artificial. You can use it to flavor cakes and frostings, fill cupcakes, or as a strawberry sauce for ice cream and desserts.
How to make it: Heat the strawberries and sugar until thick, then pulse in a blender. Pass through a sieve to make it into strawberry coulis.
Most strawberry purées are too thin to use in cakes and frostings - they add flavour, but they also add far too much liquid. This version is cooked down into a thick, concentrated purée that gives desserts a strong strawberry flavour without throwing off the texture.
I prefer using this method over artificial flavourings or extracts because it gives a real, fresh strawberry taste - just more intense. With only two ingredients, it's an easy way to add bold, natural flavour to cakes, frostings, and fillings.
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What is Strawberry Puree?
Strawberry purée is really just smooshed-up strawberries. It can mean anything from raw blended fruit to a smooth dessert sauce.
The best puree for baking is a strawberry reduction, like this recipe. By cooking the strawberries down first, we remove excess liquid and concentrate the flavour, making a thick purée that adds real flavor without affecting the texture of cakes or frostings.
Strawberry Puree vs Strawberry Coulis
- Strawberry Purée - blended fruit, cooked or raw
- Strawberry Coulis - strained, smooth sauce
- Strawberry Reduction - cooked to reduce liquid and concentrate flavor
Ingredients
This super simple strawberry puree has only two ingredients.
- Strawberries - The star of the show! You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. Frozen berries are great for making this out of strawberry season.
- Sugar - You want regular white sugar for this recipe (caster sugar in the UK).
See recipe card for measurements in both cups and grams.
How to Make Strawberry Puree
Making homemade puree might sound like a faff, but the process is actually super quick and easy. I like to make a big batch and freeze some to use whenever I need it.
Heat Strawberries
Place the strawberries and sugar in a high-sided saucepan over medium-high heat.
If you are using fresh strawberries, add a small splash of water to get them going without burning the sugar.
If you are using frozen strawberries, there is no need to defrost them first, you can put them straight in the pan from frozen.
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.
How To Know When Strawberry Purée is Thick Enough
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.
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 the puree like this, but if you'd like to make a strawberry coulis (completely smooth with no seeds), pass it through a fine-mesh sieve.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool completely before using.
How To Thicken Strawberry Puree
The more you reduce the strawberries in the pan, the thicker the purée will be. It will thicken up more as it cools, so don't worry if it's still runnier than you'd like while hot.
If you want to thicken it even further to make a more concentrated flavor, you can put it back on the heat after blending to get rid of even more liquid.
To thicken for consistency, like wanting it to set like strawberry pie, you can add a little cornstarch slurry and bring it to a boil for 1-2 minutes. This will make it set when cooled, but it won't increase the flavor.
Ways To Use Strawberry Purée
This strawberry puree recipe is designed to bring bold flavor to baked goods and desserts, but there are actually a bunch of other ways you can use it too:
- 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 adding to my angel cake recipe to make Strawberry Angel Food Cake.
- Frosting - Because it's not too liquidy, this puree is perfect for flavoring buttercream without messing up the consistency. I used it in my Chocolate Strawberry Cake Recipe.
- Filling - Use it for fresh fruit filling inside desserts such as strawberry tarts, donuts, or cupcakes - like in my Strawberry Cupcakes.
- Dessert Toppings - It's really great as a topping on desserts like ice cream or desserts like Pavlova, or Strawberry Shortcake. Or over breakfasts such as French toast.
- Drinks - Add your strawberry coulis to drinks for some delicious cocktails or strawberry lemonade. You might also like my Strawberry Syrup recipe for this.
Recipes that Use Strawberry Puree
Storage
Store your homemade strawberry puree in the fridge in a jar or airtight container - it will stay good like this for about a week.
Freezing Purée
You can freeze strawberry puree for up to 6 months. Put it in a Ziploc bag or freezer-safe container, or in ice cube trays if you want to use smaller portions of it at a time.
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.
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.
Yes, you can use this exact same technique with other fruits and berries to add those flavors to your desserts. I often make a tasty raspberry puree for my raspberry cupcakes. It also works beautifully with blueberries and cherries.
You can make strawberry puree with fresh or frozen strawberries! I actually prefer to use frozen berries as I usually have them to hand and they give a much better flavor when out of strawberry season.
You don't have to defrost them before cooking either, just throw them straight in the pan from frozen.
You definitely don't need to use sugar to make strawberry puree for baking. I add the sugar in because it brings out the strawberry flavor and helps to preserve the puree a little longer, but you can use alternative sweeteners or just leave the sugar out entirely.
If you keep your puree in a jar in the fridge, it should last up to a week. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months.
More Strawberry Recipes
Other Strawberry Desserts you might love:
Recipe
Strawberry Purée Recipe (Strawberry Reduction)
Ingredients
- 450 g (16 oz) Strawberries fresh or frozen
- 100 g (½ cup) Granulated Sugar (Caster Sugar)
Equipment
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries in cold water and drain the excess water.450 g (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).100 g (½ cup) Granulated 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.
Natahleigh
Dreamy! And simple 😀 Can’t wait to try this!