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–+ servings
close up of strawberry topping with a wooden spoon
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5 from 2 votes

Strawberry Topping

This strawberry topping is perfect to use on top of cheesecake, as a cake filling, pie filling, and so much more. It's one of my favorite ways to use fresh seasonal strawberries and then freeze for later!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Cooling6 hours
Total Time8 hours 15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 126kcal
Author: Liz Marek

Ingredients

For Strawberry Topping

  • 32 ounces strawberries fresh or frozen
  • 6 ounces sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces water
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 Tablespoons ClearJel or 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
  • 1 ounce cool water for the ClearJel or Cornstarch
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making the Strawberry Topping

  • Combine together half of the strawberries, water, salt, and sugar, lemon juice and zest in a large saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. 
  • Simmer th mixture for 5-10 minutes until the mixture has thickened and reduced by ⅓.
  • Use a whisk to crush the strawberries and make the mixture into more of a sauce.
  • Combine together the ClearJel (or cornstarch) in a separate cup to make a slurry.
  • Add the ClearJel mixture to the simmering strawberries and cook for 1 minute while stirring constantly until thickened.
  • Stir the remaining strawberries into the mixture.
  • Let the topping cool before spooning over cheesecake or other desserts.

Video

Notes

ClearJel vs. cornstarch: Use ClearJel if freezing. Cornstarch becomes cloudy and watery after freezing while ClearJel stays thick and glossy.
Frozen strawberries: Work beautifully. Add directly to the pan from frozen. Handle the reserved half gently when stirring in at the end.
Sweetness adjustment: Reduce sugar to 4 ounces for very ripe berries. Increase for tart or out-of-season berries. Honey or agave can substitute.
Consistency adjustments:
  • Chunkier: use larger pieces, stir gently
  • Smoother: blend with an immersion blender before adding slurry
  • Thicker: increase ClearJel to 3 tablespoons or cornstarch to 1.5 tablespoons
  • Thinner: reduce or omit the thickener
Storage: Refrigerator up to 1 week. Freezer up to 6 months (use ClearJel for freezing).
If too thick after refrigerating: Microwave 10 to 15 seconds and stir.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.02g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.05g | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 14IU | Vitamin C: 67mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 0.5mg
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