The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon or The Championships, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts, since 2009 with a retractable roof over Centre Court, and since 2019 over No. 1 Court.
Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass, which is the traditional tennis playing surface.
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This year the Men’s and Women’s singles first round is on Monday 28th June, the men’s singles final takes place on Sunday 11th July, the women’s singles final on Saturday 10th July and the ever-popular Manic Monday on Monday 5th July, when every remaining men’s and women’s player will be in action in the fourth round.
After a year’s break, the demand for tickets (ordered online this year) is greater than ever. We can’t help you with that, or with the traditionally overpriced Wimbledon strawberries and cream, but we can bring you this delicious strawberry dessert recipe to enjoy at home while you’re watching the action on TV.
This recipe is from the Viva! Vegan Recipe Club, a charity creating vital resources to help educate everyone – vegan veterans, novices and the v-curious alike – about vegan food, health and nutrition; as well as the plight of farmed animals and the devastating environmental impact of farming.
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Ingredients
- 320g/1 sheet ready to use puff pastry (eg Jus-Rol or some supermarket own brands. Use gluten-free if necessary – Jus-Rol has a GF version)
- 800g fresh strawberries, hulled (if you leave them whole they look prettier but halving or quartering them makes them much easier and nicer to eat)
- 2 x 200ml tubs Oatly Creme Fraiche (or you can make Viva!’s coconut cream whip or sweet cashew cream. If you make one of these other cream options you don’t need to add the lemon juice, icing sugar and vanilla extract below)
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 6 tbsp icing sugar (plus a bit more for dusting), sieved
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or paste
- Optional decoration: fresh mint sprigs, dusting of icing sugar, chopped nuts
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (fan)/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.
- Place the sheet of puff pastry on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, prick it with a fork and then pop in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden.
- Take the sheet out, turn it over, gently press it down to flatten it again and return it to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
- Leave to cool for minimum 15 minutes.
- Liquidise 100g of the hulled strawberries and then push them through a sieve to create a smooth paste. Put in the fridge until needed.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix the Oatly, lemon juice, icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Spread the cream evenly over the cooled puff pastry sheet.
- Place the fresh strawberries evenly over the layer of cream.
- Top off with the liquidised strawberry paste, a dusting of icing sugar and mint.
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