Aumonieres Filled with Strawberries

A French term for “purse,” particularly one that has been embroidered elaborately, aumonieres is the inspiration of this rich and elegant dessert made with fresh strawberries tossed in mint alcohol and mint leaves and placed inside a fritter pastry and browned in the oven. Red fruit sauce made with assorted red fruits like strawberries, raspberries, currants, cranberries, and sweetened with sugar is poured over the dessert for a sweet and tangy dessert dish. Serve this yummy dish with a bottle of Muscat wine for an unforgettable end to a romantic dinner or lunch.

The crunchy pastry fritter or pastry leaves are a scrumptious contrast to the soft and juicy strawberries. The sweet, minty and tangy dessert recipe is a perfect balance of flavors and texture and makes an impressive dish to cap off an evening. You can purchase pastry fritters or pastry leaves from the grocery, which is usually chilled in the refrigerated section of the market. This dessert is similar to dimsum or wanton but instead of wrapped meat or vegetables, fresh fruits are wrapped and cooked in the oven.

Aumonieres with strawberries are a great idea for fancy dinner parties or cocktails. You can serve each guest with one pouch each of the aumonieres, creating a beautiful presentation on the table. The sweet strawberries enclosed in the fritter leaves have the appearance of a gift or present. You can let your guests open the fritter leaves their selves for a wonderful surprise.

Red fruit sauce can be prepared by making syrup out of fresh fruit juice or from juice concentrate. You can mix different kinds of red fruit juices or concentrate and add them all together in the saucepan. Add sugar to thicken the sauce and simmer on low heat. If the fruits are sour or tart, you can adjust the sugar accordingly or add some honey instead.

Ingredients

0.88 lbs. strawberries
8 mint leaves
4 fritter leaves
mint alcohol (27)
1 2/3 cups red fruit sauce

1. Wash and dry the strawberries then take out the stems. Cut fruits in quarters and marinade in mint alcohol and minced mint leafs for 15 minutes.

2. Coat baking dish with batter. Spread the fritter leaves and place the strawberries in the middle. Close the leaves with a string.

3. Glaze the pastry with a paintbrush, soaked in egg yolk. Place aumonieres in the hot oven and heat until the pastry turns golden brown.

4. Spread a smooth layer of red fruit sauce over the serving dish.

5. Cut the string to open the fritter leaves and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!