Strawberries Romanoff Recipe
Those of you who don’t think macerated fruit desserts are impressive, I understand. There are a lot of pretty lame fruit cups out there. However this one was invented by Antonin Carême — the King of Chefs, Chef of Kings himself — and you know that dude never did anything half way. This does not disappoint. All you need is:
about 4 cups best quality small-to medium strawberries, hulled
2 ounces (1/4 cup) curaçao (or Cointreau or Grand Marnier)
2.75 ounces (about 1/3 cup) fresh squeezed orange juice
8 ounces (1 cup) cold heavy cream
2 ounces (generous 1/4 cup) sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
Combine the strawberries, curaçao and orange juice. Cover and allow it to macerate for one-to-three hours, stirring once or twice along the way. When you’re ready to serve, place the cream in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip. Whip to just shy of soft peaks, then whip in the sugar and vanilla extract. Don’t whip to stiff peaks since the presentation is nicer using large, semi-soft blobs of cream. A note to the authenticity-conscious: Carême’s strawberries Romanoff was made in two different versions: one aimed at French audiences and one Russian. The French version was made with nothing but whipped cream, the Russian version had half a cup of sour cream folded into the whipped cream. The later (unauthorized) American version used a topping of fresh whipped cream and had a base of vanilla ice cream on the bottom because, well, that’s how we roll. I’ll leave it to you to decide which version is right for you!
You could whip up a cup of creme fraiche — delicious and easy enough to make if you don’t feel like shelling out for it at the store…
Yes of course! How silly of me not to think of that. Well done, Hillary. The recipe is right here:
http://joepastry.com/category/pastry-components/dairy/creme-fraiche/
Thanks very much for pointing out an easy alternative to the sour cream in this recipe!
Cheers,
– Joe
and the ice cream?
Experts differ on whether that’s true to Carême’s original intent or not. I haven’t made up my mind yet! 😉
– Joe
This seems like a cousin of the strawberry fool, no?
Yes indeed it is and it’s high time fools made a comeback. I’ll have to do one of those soon!
– Joe
I made this for dessert the other night with vanilla ice cream and sans sour cream. It was so easy and delicious. I think we have try all the variations to see which one we like best.
I was also thinking of macerating some blueberries (separately) and layering them with the strawberries and cream for 4th of July, or better yet, for Bastille Day, since it’s French.
There was also some discussion of making “strawberry shortcake Romanoff,” which would be delicious, n’est-ce pas?
Nice, Melissa!
Great improvisation. Let me know which version comes out on top! 😉
– Joe
Hah! Fools just showed up on another website that I routinely read, apparently they got your memo. 😛