Strawberries Romanoff

Strawberry season is upon us so I figured it was a perfect time to remake my recipe for strawberries romanoff and include some pics!

You might have seen this at La Madeleine, and while I’ve never actually had it, I always think it looks really good...can you go wrong with strawberries and cream?

According to "The Food Lover's Companion" (the food encyclopedia Mel gave me a few years ago also available online)

"this deliciously decadent dessert is made by soaking strawberries in orange juice and curaçao or cointreau, then serving them topped with whipped cream. It's one of many dishes named after the Russian royal family by French chefs."

A few years ago I created this version at the request of a high school girl I was working with on nutrition.  The original recipe served 4 and the ingredients were as follows:

½ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon brandy or vanilla
½ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
4 cups fresh strawberries

The problem with the recipe isn't the strawberries (obviously), but the cream, sour cream, and sugar. Heavy cream has 50 calories and 5 g fat (3.5 saturated) per tablespoon. Sour cream has the same calories/fat per 2 tablespoons. And then there's the sugar...18 teaspoons total which adds 270 calories...aren't strawberries already sweet??

So that's where I made the changes. I swapped plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream (originally I used plain yogurt…but now I’m liking Greek better), left the heavy cream alone, and reduced the sugar to 7 ½ teaspoons.

I used ¾ of a cup (6oz) of yogurt instead of ½ of a cup...this helps "dilute" the calories in the whipped cream even further. I also increased the fruit and made 6 servings instead of 4.

You may wonder why I left the heavy cream alone...it is high in fat after all. For some, fat-free Cool Whip would be an option, but I don't use Cool Whip. I don't think it tastes very good and its not made from anything natural like cream or milk (remember the Reddi-wip commercial..."cream or oil?"). Here is the ingredient list from Cool Whip (the fat-free kind):

Ingredients: WATER, CORN SYRUP, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL* (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUMCASEINATE (FROM MILK), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, XANTHAN AND GUAR GUMS,POLYSORBATE 60, POLYSORBATE 65, SORBITANMONOSTEARATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, BETA CAROTENE (COLOR).
*ADDS A NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNT OF FAT

You be the judge...

I'm sticking with whipped cream lightened with Greek yogurt.

Strawberries Romanoff
adapted from Recipezaar.com

Makes 6 servings

6 oz container Greek yogurt (I used 0% Fage)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or brandy
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
6 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

Mix yogurt, brown sugar, and vanilla or brandy in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, whip cream and sugar until thick and fluffy.

Gently fold half of cream into yogurt mixture. Add the remaining cream and fold to combine.

Serve over fresh strawberries.

Per serving

before – 296 calories, 18 g fat (11 g saturated), 33 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: 3 ½ fat, 1 starch/sugar, 1 fruit)

after –152 calories, 8 g fat (5 g saturated), 17 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein (exchanges: 1 ½ fat, ¼ starch/sugar, 1 fruit)