Today we’re talking about a fresh, very quick and indulgent single-portion spoon dessert. These are delightful little cups where the main ingredient is strawberries. It’s an extremely easy recipe that doesn’t require any cooking, is very light, and is perfect as an end-of-meal dessert or on a buffet. The cups can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to serve them. You can personalize them however you like. Shall we start thinking about a Mother’s Day dessert?
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups strawberries
- 1 1/4 cups dry cookies (also gluten-free)
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (also lactose-free or plant-based)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream (also lactose-free or plant-based)
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 lemon
- to taste liquor (optional)
Steps
The number of cups obtained with these quantities may vary depending on the size of the glasses used. In my case, I got 6 cups, and I had some cream left over.
Let’s prepare the strawberries
Wash the strawberries and remove the stems.
Set aside 18 small strawberries (which we will cut into halves or quarters only at the end, when decorating — this will not only prevent them from getting damaged but also help decide how many pieces of strawberry to use for each individual cup) and cut the remaining strawberries into pieces that are not too small.
Place them in a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and the liquor (Strega or limoncello, but optional). The liquor can be replaced with orange or lemon juice.
Stir to distribute the ingredients evenly and let rest for at least 30 minutes to allow the strawberries to release their juice, which will then be used to flavor the cookies.
Meanwhile, partially whip the cream — stop as soon as the beaters begin to leave marks.
Add the yogurt, powdered sugar and the finely grated lemon zest. Continue whipping for about 40–60 seconds until you obtain a smooth mixture.
– Regarding the yogurt: you can choose plain natural yogurt which is more liquid to obtain a lighter, airier cream; or, if you prefer a slightly firmer and more supported cream, use Greek yogurt, which is thicker.
Let’s assemble the cups.
Put a layer of about 2 roughly broken cookies at the bottom of each cup, moisten them with a very small amount of strawberry juice, add one tablespoon of the cream (cream and yogurt mixture), one tablespoon of strawberry pieces, then another tablespoon of cream.
Finish by decorating each cup with the strawberries that were set aside.
You can serve the cups immediately or store them in the fridge in a well-sealed container. Obviously, the longer the cookies stay in contact with the moisture released by the cream and the strawberries, the softer they will become, similar to the cookies in tiramisu, to give you an idea.
The extra idea. Replace the lemon zest with a little freshly grated ginger. It will give a very fresh and sharp aroma to our cups.
Enjoy!
