I often make this “strawberry topping ” recipe but make it thicker by either decreasing the added water or increasing the amount of fruit. By doing so it becomes more like compote or preserves.
I make it with potato starch because it’s much more readily available here in Japan and less likely to clump (in my experience). I also don’t add vanilla extract, but replace it with the same amount of the juice of whatever citrus fruit I happen to have on hand.
This time of year strawberries are very cheap here in Shizuoka as they’re field, rather than hothouse grown (the season for hothouse grown strawberries starts in December and they’re expensive and bad for the environment.) The last batch of strawberries I bought was 432g/15.5oz with the hills and 397g/14oz without. It cost ¥490/$3.60 and made 630ml/21.3oz of “compote”.
I use this recipe on what some Americans call “shortbread” (kind of a less sweet scone) or in full-fat Greek yogurt.
I have also made it with apples and used brown sugar with cinnamon in it. It came out excellent, too!
The “compote” keeps in the refrigerator for weeks.
Thank you! Before I moved here to Shizuoka, I lived in Tokushima and I’m lucky that both places are blessed with lots of locally-grown strawberries. And also lucky for me is that both areas have an abundance of locally-grown citrus fruit, including many which I’ve never seen in the US (I’ve lived in both CA and FL which also have abundant citrus fruit.) Citrus is my favorite category of fruit and I can’t get enough of it.