Strawberry Coulis | Compote

Strawberry compote cooked further and strained is Coulis, a smooth sauce made with berries cooked with sweetener, lemon juice and zest. 

Compote Vs Coulis

Compote is a fruit cooked in syrup and coulis is when the compote is cooked further and pureed.  As my strawberries were boiling away in sugar-turned syrup, I added some lemon zest and waited for it to reach the thick sauce-like texture with no lumps - my personal preference. I did not want any lumps or runny sauce like the usual compote so blitzed it in the blender and transferred it to glass, clicked pictures, cling-wrapped and stored it in the fridge.

Now for some knowledge sharing do read this article by Serious Eats which will help you to differentiate jams, preserves, conserve, compote, etc. It helped me identify the sauce I made as Coulis which is a cousin of Compote. 🙂

To avoid wastage while trimming the strawberry top, you may use a straw to core out the top like in this video.

I have used this as a spread on my brown bread for breakfast, added to overnight oats and added to ice creams too. I used it up within a week and it was good in a glass with cling wrapped.

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

Strawberry Coulis | Compote

A smooth sauce made with berries cooked with sweetener, lemon juice and zest.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: coulis

Servings: 1 cup

Author: Famidha Ashraf

Ingredients

• 12 large strawberries washed and trimmed
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar
• ½ lemon zest

Instructions

• Chop the strawberries into large chunks and toss them into a saucepan along with sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. You may also add one or more flavour ideas like vanilla, grated ginger, basil, mint, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, or chilli!
• Set the saucepan on the stovetop on the lowest flame and occasionally stir to prevent getting the berries from being burnt. Cook until the berries have started to lose their shape and become soft and glossy.
• For making a compote, you can stop at this stage and let it cool before storing it. For making Coulis, cook further until thickens completely with fewer lumps. For a runny sauce, you may add water or orange juice and boil well.
• Switch off and let it cool. Once cooled, you may blitz and strain if needed and transfer it into an airtight glass jar.
• Refrigerate and use with a clean dry spoon as needed on ice creams, yoghurt, overnight oats, cheesecakes, slices of bread, etc.

Notes

You may add one or more flavour options that pair well with strawberries: vanilla, grated ginger, fresh basil, mint, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, or chilli!