Strawberries - What Remains of Summer

There was a glutton of the sweetest tasting strawberries at the market a week or so ago. I don't know where they came from, I mean, it was the middle of September. But they were there. I couldn't help myself. It's been a really bad summer for strawberries here in Denmark, waay to much rain, not that much sun - and I'm a girl that relishes the moment were the first strawberries are there - you never know exactly, but one day they're there, if you're really lucky still warm from the sun, the smell oh-so-sweet and the color, oh that dark, juicy red.

Naturally, I had to try and save some of that late-coming summer. I ended up with a strawberry tart and three (count them, 3!) jars of strawberry jam. And that doesn't count the ones that jumped in my mouth while making all of this...

Strawberry tart - adaptation of Nigella Lawson's Rhubarb Tart from How to be a Domestic Goddess



It's basically a cream cheese filled pie crust topped with (in the original, stewed rhubarb) - it wasn't sweet enough for me here... And I don't know why, but I'm just not big on tarts. It's like the crust gets too cloying and fat and flaky and... ugh. No, I'm not good with them, but I'll keep trying, okay?

Strawberry Jam with Balsamic - also a Nigella Lawson-inspired recipe...

It made for a waaay too runny version, and very sweet as well - but I like the idea of adding balsamic...



It'll work, but as you can tell, there's a lot of syrup - I'll boil it down some more, but I think this is a general problem with strawberry jam - too much liquid, even though I don't add water... Anyone with a great recipe?



I just realize... I should have put the jam on the tart! Ha! That would've hit the spot! Ah well...