Simple Orange and Black Pepper Macerated Strawberries
Strawberries soaked in orange liquor (or orange juice) with a smack of flavor from black peppercorns. These simple macerated strawberries are the perfect way to use up not-so-sweet strawberries or slightly under-ripe strawberries. They will also likely be one of the most simple desserts you will ever bring together! Serve with some sweetened whipped cream, or spoon the macerated strawberries on top of some ice cream, and you will be in strawberry heaven.
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Resting Time2 hours hrs
Total Time2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Anytime
Keyword: macerated strawberries, orange liquor strawberries
Servings: 6 serves
Calories: 348kcal
For Macerated Strawberries
- 2 pints fresh strawberries
- 5 tablespoons orange liquor or orange juice (or orange juice if preferred)
- 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons whole black peppercorns
For Whipped Cream
- 2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sweetener of choice (sugar, stevia or honey)
- orange zest (optional garnish)
Macerated Strawberries
Wash the strawberries, remove the green stem, and cut them into bite-sized pieces, place them into a mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, mix the orange liquor (or orange juice) and the confectioner's sugar together until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Use a mortar and pestle, or a pepper grinder to crack the black peppercorns.
Toss the strawberries with the orange mixture until they are evenly coated. Add ¾ of the crushed black pepper, saving the remainder for sprinkling on top when serving.
Chill for about 2 hours, or up to overnight for a more intense flavor.
Simply replace the orange liquor with orange juice for a family-friendly version.
For a more intense flavor, serve the macerated strawberries at room temperature.
Sweetener Of Choice
Use the sweetener of your choice.
For the orange liquid mixture, you can sub out confectioners sugar or stevia, honey, or maple syrup.
With the whipped cream you can use regular granulated sugar, stevia, honey or maple syrup. You can also leave the sweetener out altogether depending on your preferences.
Storing and Freezing
Macerated strawberries can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
However the longer they are left in the macerating liquid, the softer they will become.
They can also be frozen by draining the liquid and storing them in a vacuum seal bag, or a Ziploc bag, with as much liquid removed as possible.
Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 32mg | Potassium: 346mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1219IU | Vitamin C: 100mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 1mg