Cold Strawberry Cream Cups
Cold strawberry cream in a glass: thick, well chilled and no oven. Fifteen minutes of work across two bowls, then two hours in the refrigerator — no gelatine, no cooking. The fresh strawberries go on top at the moment of serving: stirred in, they release water and slacken the cream.
The idea came from Brazilian danoninhos caseiros, which are made with yoghurt and powdered drink mix. This version takes another road: less condensed milk, cream cheese for body, and real fruit on top instead of more sugar.
You will also need: four glasses or small individual pots.
With the same strawberries: the classic strawberries and cream and, if you have time, the no-bake strawberry cheesecake — that one has a biscuit base and gelatine, and needs nearly five hours.
Ingredients
- 200 g firm cream cheese (or 100 g cream cheese and 100 g Greek yoghurt)
- 100 ml well-chilled pouring cream (heavy cream)
- 130 g sweetened condensed milk
- 45 g strawberry milk powder (such as Nesquik), about 4 heaped tablespoons
- 1 pinch of fine salt
- 200 g fresh strawberries, to serve
Method
- 1
Put the pinch of salt into the 100 ml of cold cream and stir until it dissolves. The salt goes in here, not at the end: this cream is never heated, so a grain that has not dissolved stays a grain when you eat it. If you use coarse or pink salt, grind it fine first.
- 2
Whip the cream to soft peaks: it is ready when the whisk leaves a trail but the cream still falls from the wires on its own. Do not take it to stiff peaks — over-whipped cream splits as soon as it meets a thick, cold base, and instead of air it leaves little flecks of butter.
- 3
In a second bowl, beat the 200 g of cream cheese with the 130 g of condensed milk until smooth and free of lumps.
- 4
Add the 45 g of powder sifted — it cakes inside the packet and those lumps do not break up by beating — and beat for 1 or 2 minutes until fully combined.
- 5
Fold the whipped cream in two goes: a third stirred in firmly to loosen the base, the rest folded gently so the air stays in. Taste it now, before it chills: once cold you cannot correct it without whipping everything again. Divide between the glasses and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- 6
Cut the strawberries and put them on top only as you serve. Left sitting on the cream for hours they release water and slacken it exactly while it is meant to be setting. Covered and without the fruit, the cream keeps for 2 or 3 days in the refrigerator.