Slow-Cooked Shortcake

Yesterday I watched an episode of Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, in which she made Mixed Berry Crumble. I was enchanted with the idea of slow-cooking fruit for a dessert, recalling that I had some frozen strawberries remaining in the fridge. The idea of a warm strawberry shortcake came to mind, and so I snooped around on the internet, glancing at a few recipes that used a slow cooker with fruit.

I ended up using the remaining strawberries, along with half a bag of Marion blackberries (about 8 oz each.) To that I added one-fourth of a cup of sugar (the strawberries were pre-sweetened, but the blackberries were not), a cup of water, and the zest from two limes. It slow cooked for about 2 hours, at which point it had reduced enough to be considered a compote - but it smelled wonderful. We added a little cornstarch mix, and then chilled it. I had originally planned to add a little vanilla flavor, but forgot (and don't mind, it was unnecessary.)



Served up on mini-shortcake rounds with a dollop of whipped cream (shown without due to their smaller size.) The flavor is perfect: within the first bite, you taste the sweet tart of the blackberries, but that is soon followed by the warm aftertaste of strawberries, both teased with the hint of lime.

Best part of the experience, outside of the food? Learning that slow cooking does not need to be limited to savory dishes. It served the fruit very well, and I'm eager to use it again for other sweet dishes.