A newsletter subscriber with an August birthday has asked me for a good strawberry daiquiri recipe or two. I can’t think of a more refreshing way to celebrate a birthday in the hottest month of the year (at least, it’s the hottest month where I live!) than with a cocktail as icy-cold and luscious as a frozen strawberry daiquiri.

This first recipe I think of as my own KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie) version that’s really quick and easy to crank out when a thirsty crowd is gathering around the blender. The other two recipes borrow gourmet elements that add a bit of elegance to the daiquiri bar. Each of these recipes, made in batches in a blender, relies on the four basic elements of a frozen strawberry daiquiri - light (silver) rum, strawberries, lime, and lots of ice.

Recipe #1 - KISS Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Recipe

Fill a blender with crushed ice and add:
1 cup light rum*
1 small carton frozen strawberries in syrup
Juice from one lime

Blend until ice is crushed smooth and daiquiris are pretty and pink throughout.

*Light rum and silver rum are the same thing; it’s a matter of distiller’s choice of which word to print on bottle labels. Light rum is NOT lower in calories, alcohol content, carbs, or anything else related to nutrition. With rum, the term light refers to color only; light rum is clear like water instead of darker, like cola.

Recipe #2 - Strawberry Daiquiri with a French Twist

Fill a blender with crushed ice and add:
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, with stems removed
1 cup light rum
1/2 cup cognac
1 jigger grenadine syrup
Juice from one lime

Blend this mixture until smooth and slushy.

Recipe #3 - Strawberries and Cream Daiquiri

Fill a blender with crushed ice and add:
1 cup light rum
1 small carton frozen strawberries in syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 jigger maraschino cherry liquor, if desired
Juice from one lime

Blend till smooth and slushy.

For a presentation as delicious as it is attractive, frost the rim of the glass with sugar. To do so, rub a lime wedge around the rims of empty daiquiri glasses. Dip the now-damp rims of each glass into a shallow saucer holding a bed of granulated sugar. Give the glass a quick twist in the sugar to coat the entire rim. Top the glass with a strawberry sliced 1/2 to 2/3 of the way from tip to stem.

Many frozen strawberry daiquiri connoisseurs swear by fresh strawberries and will use nothing else. Strawberries are too seasonal for me to always use fresh; I don’t want to eat or drink strawberries unless they are being freshly harvested where I live. Otherwise, they just don’t taste like strawberries. Substitute frozen or drained, canned strawberries during your locality’s off season for tastiest results with either of these frozen strawberry daiquiri recipes.