We got some big and beautiful strawberries last week and they were such a vibrant colour and smelt just like British summer time that I decided they were too pretty to just eat. I wanted the kids to showcase them and put them centre stage in our pudding one evening.
It seemed natural to combine them with Nutella. As we are a house with small children, we take Nutella pretty seriously; no small jars thank you – always the 1kg jar for us! I do say due to the children, but if I can tell you a secret, I had a jar of Nutella on my desk at work for when I was having a bad day, so maybe some of it is me too… We shan’t dwell on that one though!
Enter the idea of Nutella cheesecake stuffed strawberries. This is a recipe that I adapted after seeing a recipe on another website (see link below). I have to admit part of this recipe is a bit intricate and the kids didn’t do that part, but that said they had a lot of fun with the rest as an after school and nursery activity and they were a really tasty treat for a midweek pudding.
While the boys were at their respective daytime activities and Ophelia was eating lunch I went about removing the centre of the strawberries. Yes it is a weird concept and it was a bit fiddly. I had to pay a strawberry tax to my daughter so she took the tops I had sliced of and the couple which went wrong at the beginning. She then had a tantrum as I wouldn’t let her eat the rest of them!
Ingredients
Recipe adapted from Pinch of Nom
- 1 pack of large strawberries (it is easier to remove the centre of a large strawberry)
- 3tbsp Nutella
- 3tbsp cream cheese
- 1 digestive biscuit
I didn’t add any sugar as I concluded that the Nutella would make it sweet enough. It is a bit of a gloopy mixture so they do need to be kept in the fridge. If you need more filling, just add more of the Nutella and cream cheese in equal amounts. The children enjoyed eating the bits which didn’t fit into the strawberries!
Method
- Adult in advance: slice the top off all the strawberries and carefully score around the inside of the strawberry in a circle. Carefully with the tip of the knife or a teaspoon scoop out the middle of the strawberry. Be careful not to make any big tears in the wall of the strawberry. Some of ours had little tears and they survived OK. Either eat the middle bits or
save them for the kids (here is where I admit that I ate them all!). Place in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
- Measure out the Nutella and cream cheese into a bowl and thoroughly mix. Fill the strawberries with a teaspoon and return to the fridge until you are ready to eat them.
- Crush the biscuit in a zip lock bag and sprinkle crushed digestive over each strawberry just before serving as the biscuit will go soft in the fridge.
The children were kind enough to share these yummy creations with both mummy and daddy. I did have to watch them like a hawk so they didn’t try and eat more than their share! There is no denying that they have all inherited my love for both strawberries and Nutella!