Strawberries left in sugar for half an hour to draw out their juice, then blended with cold milk. The maceration is what makes it taste of strawberry rather than of pink milk.
There is no liquor in this recipe
Worth stating plainly, because the instruction that had been on this page for years told people to blend the strawberries with the cold milk and liquor.
The Spanish said licuar, which is the verb to blend. Somewhere in the translation it became a noun and an alcoholic one. Nothing else in the recipe suggests a cocktail: it is fruit, milk and sugar.
Half an hour in sugar
Cut the strawberries, put them in a bowl with the sugar, and leave them. Within a few minutes there is liquid in the bottom of the bowl and by thirty minutes there is a pool of it.
That liquid is the point. Sugar pulls water out of the fruit cells and what comes out carries the flavour with it, concentrated, in a way that blending alone does not achieve. Skip it and the shake is noticeably paler in taste as well as colour.
It also means the sugar is fully dissolved before anything goes in the blender, so there is no grittiness.
Cold everything
Cold milk is specified in the ingredient list and it matters. A milkshake made cold and served immediately is thicker and holds together; one blended at room temperature and then chilled separates faster and feels thinner.
If you have room, put the blender jug in the fridge for a while first.
Sieving is optional
The fourth step is unusually honest for a recipe: here you decide if you go through the filter or not, and it is generally not necessary.
Strawberry seeds are tiny and most people never register them. If you want a completely smooth drink, a sieve takes thirty seconds and costs you a little volume.
More cold drinks
- Banana split — the other strawberry classic.
- Strawberry dessert — with condensed milk.
- Mango juice — no milk, no blender jug in the fridge.
- Coconut lemonade — the Colombian one.
Strawberry Milkshake FAQ
Sugar draws juice out of cut fruit by osmosis, and that juice is concentrated strawberry flavour that otherwise stays locked inside. Half an hour of it is the difference between a milkshake that tastes of strawberry and one that tastes of pink milk.
No. The old third step said to add the cold milk and liquor, which was a mistranslation of the Spanish verb licuar, meaning to blend. There is no liquor in the recipe and never was.
It helps a great deal. Cold milk, cold fruit and a cold blender jug give a thicker shake that holds together longer. Blending warm and chilling afterwards is never as good.
The recipe leaves it to you and says it is generally not necessary. Strawberry seeds are small enough that most people never notice them. Strain it if you want it completely smooth.
Sixty-five grams, or to taste. Strawberries vary enormously in sweetness depending on the season, so taste after blending and adjust rather than measuring blindly.
Yes, and they will not need macerating in the same way, because freezing already breaks the cell walls that the sugar was working on. They also make a thicker shake, so you may want a little more milk.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 600 g strawberries (hulled and washed)
- 500 ml milk (cold)
- 65 g sugar (or to taste)
- 1 strawberry (to decorate)
- Chocolate sauce or whipped cream (optional)
Notas
Instructions
- Pull the green leaves off the strawberries, wash them and drain them.
- Cut the strawberries, put them in a bowl with the sugar and leave them for about 30 minutes. They will macerate and release their juice.
- Tip the contents of the bowl into the blender with the cold milk and blend.
- Here you decide whether to pass it through a sieve. It is generally not necessary.
- Taste and add more sugar if you want, then serve and decorate with the whole strawberry, the whipped cream or the chocolate sauce.
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