The 10-Second Party Dessert That Unlocked a Flood of Memories
All the strawberries
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When I was a kid, much to my chagrin, my parents didn't throw many dinner parties. I do, however, recall sleeping over at friends' houses when their parents had guests. I can still hear the muffled chatting and glass clinking. It sounded like so much fun!
Because we were relegated to the den or my pal's bedroom, I didn't get a sense of what the grownups were eating, but I do distinctly recall hearing about what sounded like a very fancy dessert: strawberries dipped in sour cream and rolled in brown sugar. it was years before I tried the combo for myself, but when I did I was shocked by how good (and how easy!) it was.
I hadn't thought of that dessert in years until a few months ago when my friend and fellow food writer, Justin Burke, brought it up in one of our chats. I was instantly transported to those slumber party days and immediately had to give it a try. I can confirm that it still slaps.
And just when I thought that was the end of the resurgence, Holly Haines shared her favorite dessert to put together for unexpected guests when she was taping Episode 1 of Moveable Feast, which premieres this weekend. I've never met Holly in person, but I've followed her for a long time on Instagram and feel like I know her. Her passion for food and flavors is so evident in her posts and I always look forward to seeing what she's making. She often instructs cooks to "measure vanilla with your heart," which makes me smile every time.
This is all to say that I trust her food sense implicitly and so I was thrilled that she was also on board the strawberry-sour cream-brown train. Here's what she had to say: "The quickest, easiest dessert to put together when you have unexpected guests is strawberries, sour cream and brown sugar, which sounds weird, but if you take a strawberry and you dip it in sour cream and you do a little dip in the brown sugar it tastes just like cheesecake."
And you know what? She's totally right!
Holly's tip led me down the TikTok rabbit hole, as things do in the year 2023, and I was surprised to see that folks there are also keen on this easy treat. Some creators liked it more than others, but all seemed surprised that it worked as well as it did. It's hard to explain, though Holly did a pretty great job, but the sweet juicy fruit, the tangy sour cream and the caramely, slightly crunchy brown sugar combine in the most delicious—and dare I say sophisticated—way.
Once I finished with TikTok, I nosed around for any kind of history on this recipe (if you could call it that). My guess is we'll never know who first put these three ingredients together, but I was able to follow the digital breadcrumbs back to a restaurant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire called Blue Strawbery (yeah, only one r). At the restaurant, which was open from 1970 until 1995, chef James Haller only served one dessert: perfectly ripe strawberries with thick sour cream and brown sugar. I don't own a copy of The Blue Strawberry Cookbook (yet), but I've read that the recipe is included inside. Luckily for all of us, putting the dish together is as simple as opening a few packages and to quote Holly, "measuring with your heart."
