Strawberry coffee cake and must-have summer desserts

New: Strawberry coffee cake and must-have summer desserts
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Summer in Vancouver never lasts as long as I hope it will and it definitely doesn’t last long enough for me to enjoy all my favourite summer treats. You’ve got a week, maybe two weeks left to indulge in the warmth of our shortest season, so before it ends, make sure you give one of these delicious summer desserts a try:

Taiwanese Shaved Ice

Delicious and simple. This dessert is simply a pile of what only could be described as fluffy snow topped with fruit jellies, sweet beans, fresh fruit and a drizzle of condensed milk. Try it at The One restaurant in Burnaby, or Frappe Bliss in Richmond. There's also a great place (so great I can't remember the name currently...) inside Crystal Mall near Metrotown where you can pick seven different toppings for about $5. 

Taiwanese shaved ice with fresh fruit and ice cream

Taiwanese shaved ice for the slightly more daring with red beans, grass jelly, ice cream and taro

Strawberry Sponge Cake Recipe and how to pick the best strawberries

New: Strawberry Sponge Cake Recipe, Berry Picking and How to Pick the Best Strawberries

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Delicious Strawberry Sponge cake recipe

Summer is cheap strawberry season! Time to indulge in some strawberry pies, strawberry cakes, strawberry muffins, strawberry mousse strawberry lemonade, and just plain, fresh, vibrant strawberries. Here are a few tips on how to pick the best strawberries:

Colour: Generally, the deeper the red, the sweeter the and riper the berry . 

Size: Smaller and medium strawberries are always, always better. Not only are they more natural (have you seen the fist-sized beasts they call berries?), but they will almost always be sweeter.

Smell: If possible, give the strawberries a sniff. Sweeter strawberries have a stronger strawberry smell. 

Firmness: Firmer strawberries can sometimes be more sour, the softer ones are not only more natural, but they tend to be sweeter as well. The large, crunchy strawberries are never as sweet and tend to lack a real strawberry taste.

Fresh, hand-picked local strawberries taste the best.