Strawberry Basil Compote
Fresh, bright compote with the perfect balance of sweet, in-season strawberries and savory basil. This compote is unreal with scones or in just about any dessert—like lemon cake!
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Guys. Today I finally listened the the Armchair Expert interview with Prince Harry and now I have very different feelings about our local royal couple. When I first saw the Oprah interview with Meghan and Harry, I thought they were being ungrateful betrayers of my beloved royal family. My husband thought I was being harsh. But he did not watch Diana’s entire funeral and has not fostered a love of all things British since reading his first Jane Austen novel.
Then I did something: I listened. I listened to what he had to say. I listened to why he might be so bitter and broken. I thought about his mother (I think a lot of people my age had mothers who were obsessed with Princess Diana). And two things he said really resonated with me.
1) It takes courage to speak up about your struggles. I know this all too well and don’t talk to many people about my experience with therapy.
2) If you wake up feeling terrible, helping others is one sure way to turn that around. I’m paraphrasing poorly here, but there’s something so healing in helping others.
So, I suppose I’m at least more on board with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their California life. I mean, I can’t really blame them for wanting to live here.
Strawberry basil compote
On a completely unrelated note, compote! Do you like strawberry basil? I fell like it’s one of those flavor combinations that is hit or miss. You either love it or hate it. And I was not on board the first time I tried it.
The key is balance.
A little sweet, a little fruity, a little herbal. All in proper balance. So I played with the ratios a bit until I found something that has a hint of basil that complements the strawberry flavor. Plus, sweetening it with honey is key. It’s the perfect balance!
I hope you love this as much as I did! I couldn’t get enough of it!
How to make strawberry basil compote
Chop strawberries (and basil, if desired).
Cook in a medium pot.
Mix some of the juices with cornstarch and stir into compote.
Remove basil leaves (if left whole).
Enjoy!
Pairs well with:
White Chocolate (Strawberry Basil) Cupcakes—switch the raspberry jam out
Tips and notes for this recipe
Use whole-leaf or chopped basil
When you chop the basil, you release more of the oils and thus more of the flavor. However, you’ll end up with green chunks of basil in the compote. You could put the chopped basil in a tea strainer or steeper. Or, you can do what I did and put the basil in, whole-leaf, and just pick the leaves out when the compote’s almost done. While this sounds time consuming and awful, it was actually pretty quick.
Don’t burn the compote
Strawberries and basil can both burn more easily than you think. You want to keep an eye on things, not letting it cook too hot or simmer too rapidly. You also don’t want to cook it too long, or both the strawberries and the basil can turn bitter.
Chopping the strawberries actually helps!
I chopped my (really large) farmer’s market strawberries, and yet it still took forever for things to cook down. I ended up making a second batch a few days later (not photographed) and using smaller dices helped quite a bit. Dicing the strawberries into about 1/2 inch pieces helps prevent over cooking and burning the compote.
Strawberry Basil Compote
- total time: 15-20 minutes
yields: about 1 ½ cups
Ingredients:
- 1 pound (453g) strawberries, diced into ½ inch pieces
- ⅓ cup (113g) honey
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) lemon juice
- ¼ to ⅓ cup packed (20-40 leaves) basil
- 1 tablespoon (14g) cornstarch (optional, for a thicker compote)
Instructions:
- Combine all ingredients except for cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Dicing isn’t necessary, but will greatly help speed up the cooking process. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and adjusting heat to keep it at a good simmer but not a boil.
- If you want a thicker jam to use as a cake filling or thin layer in a pie, remove about 2 tablespoons of the juice early on once it becomes somewhat liquid. It’s best to do this before the jam is done, so you get the thinner juices. Reserve this for later.
- When the strawberries begin to break down, you can help them along by crushing them with a wooden spoon or spatula. A potato masher would probably also work, but I’ve never tried because I’m lazy and don’t want more dishes.
- Once the strawberries are about halfway broken down and it’s just starting to resemble a really chunky jam, taste to see if it needs more honey or basil. It’s best to add more to taste earlier on, so the flavors come together nicely.
- If you want a thicker jam (like that pictured here), whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with the reserved strawberry juice until smooth. Add to the pot after 5-10 minutes of cooking, when the berries are mostly broken down but clearly still need a few minutes of cooking. Stir until well blended and continue cooking until thickened, but no more than 10 minutes (the cornstarch can break and cause the jam to separate if heated too long). It will thicken slightly as it cools.
- If not using cornstarch, simply cook until strawberries are mostly broken down and the consistency of compote (or jam--whatever you’d like). It will thicken slightly as it cools.
- If desired, remove the basil leaves. I don’t like leaving them in, because it tastes a little too savory for me. Plus, I like the look of just strawberries.
Enjoy!
Compote can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for about a month, or frozen for up to 3 months (depending on your freezer).
