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 Haines video (0:20)
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."
