Strawberries in Sparkling Wine Bath ? Mansikat kuohuviinikylvyssä

Tomorrow it's May Day. Finns call the day Vappu after German Walpurgisnacht since it's quite a new carnival of labour and students. There are much more traditional holidays during springtime and just as riotous but I'll tell you about them some other time. Right now I have my mind set for tonight.

The previous night, you see, is the one of jolly picnics. Or so it would be if it didn't rain. Me and my friends decided to have a picnic inside instead, at my place, and so I thought I'd repeat the dessert we had last year. Lea's version also had cucumber slices but for my level of experientialism they were a bit too much. Actually, in the tasting of last year each one of us wanted to leave out a different ingredient but since I'm the one who prepared the dish this time I got to decide. In any case, it certainly features things you won't see in my kitchen every day so it's perfect for this type of special occasion. Perhaps even more so for some summer parties when strawberries are in season and taste like strawberries.

- 0.75 l sparkling wine (Real, not champagne. Good quality cider goes fine as well.)
- 2-3 strawberries per portion (about 250 g)
- 0.5 dl dark sugar
- 1 dl water
- 1 punch of fresh lemon balm (or mint)
- 2 teaspoons agar powder (you can also use pectin but that means you'll need more sugar as well)

Slice the strawberries and arrange them into your serving glasses (I used six glasses). Mince most of the lemon balm. Cook it with the water for a few minutes to seize the aroma. Filter out the balm parts.

Add the sugar, the agar and some of the wine. Let the mixture come to a boil, then move it out of the stove. Mix very carefully with the rest of the wine (so you won't loose the bubbles) and pour evenly on the strawberries.

Decorate with lemon balm leaves. Refrigerate for couple of hours.

Nutritional values / 1 portion / 206 g :
energy 139 kcal
fat 0 g
protein 1 g
carbohydrates 12 g
fiber 1 g