Nothing says spring like a nice piece of strawberry shortcake. My wife’s grandpa had this very thought a few weeks ago when he requested strawberry shortcake for his 86th birthday cake. Unfortunately, his cake was sculpted to look like a forklift transporting a couch and just a little too elaborate for simple strawberry shortcake. But, we did manage to work in pound cake with a fresh strawberry filling so he was happy.

If you are eating strawberries whole you don’t really have to worry too much about removing the stem, hull (calix) or bitter white tops because you can just eat around those parts. However, if you are cooking with strawberries or making strawberry jam you definitely will want to remove the strawberry hull to make a much tastier product.

There are several tools available on the market to make removing the strawberry hulls easier. A few of my favorites are shown below. However, in my opinion strawberry hull removers fall into the same category as a lot of other kitchen gadgetry. They tend to be one hit wonders that ultimately clutter up the kitchen.

If you want to remove the strawberry hull or white part of the strawberry without buying a fancy gadget, this tutorial can help. When removing a strawberry hull, I prefer to use either a star tip for a piping bag or a good ol’ paring knife. If you have little hands who want to help in the kitchen, the star tip is probably the better option of the two because it is less dangerous than arming a small child with a sharp tool.

How-to Remove Strawberry Hulls with a Cake Decorating Tip

To remove strawberry hulls with a cake decorating tip use a large star tip. Begin by holding a strawberry in one hand and the decorating tip in the other. Gently twist the cake tip into the center of the stem end of the strawberry, making sure to go as deep into the berry as the tip will allow. Gently pull out the tip and your strawberry will have a nice hole in the center where the hull used to be.

This is a pretty quick and easy method to use when hulling a lot of berries at once. It is also a pretty safe method when little hands want to help in the kitchen. However, if you are like me and use a relatively small star tip then you won’t be able to cut out all of the white strawberry top when removing the strawberry hull.

How-to Remove Strawberry Hulls with a Paring Knife

Step 1: Angle a small sharp knife and cut, in a circular motion, around the green leafy top of the strawberry and into the pale flesh directly underneath.

Step 2: Remove the hull and discard. Wash strawberries thoroughly under cold running water before using.