Despite the unpredictable weather we’ve had this summer, there have been some truly glorious berries and fruit available. Succulent strawberries have been a particular favourite with us and this strawberry soup, inspired by Aran’s recipe, is a great way to showcase them.

I love the purity of the soup as Aran served it, but I wanted to gently spice it to further enhance the flavour. Not enough to be able to pick out the flavours of the individual spices, but enough to give a hint of the Orient with each spoonful.

The soup is endlessly versatile. Reduced, it makes a fantastic sauce for ice-cream sundaes or other plated desserts. You can add some gelatine and create beautiful summer-berry jellies, or go all Heston and create tiny cubes of strawberry jelly to scatter over salads with some gorgonzola. I’ve played with textures a little and added a sprinkle of crunchy strawberry granita for a bit of contrast.

This is the perfect dinner party dessert. Everything is prepared in advance and all you have to do is tumble a few berries into deep soup plates, add a scoop of frozen yoghurt, sprinkle granita on top, and then pour the ruby red soup around.

Beautiful.

This post is my entry for this month’s Waiter, There’s Something… event, hosted by Jeanne. The theme is Berried Treasure.

Spiced Strawberry Soup

Source: Adapted from Canelle et Vanille

1 kg strawberries, hulled and halved
90g sugar
juice of half a lemon
1 star anise
1 clove

Place first three ingredients in a bowl and cover tightly with clingfilm. Place bowl over a pan filled with a couple of inches of water. Turn on the heat and bring the water in the saucepan to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and let the water simmer underneath the bowl of strawberries.

After an hour, strain the juice through a nylon sieve into a jug. Add the spices, cover with clingfilm, and leave to infuse for at least 15 minutes. Discard the strawberries. Taste the juice and if the spice flavour is strong enough for you, fish out the spices and refrigerate the juice until ready to assemble.

Strawberry Granita

In a small, shallow freezer-proof tub, pour in strawberry soup to a depth of 0.5cm. Freeze uncovered for 30 minutes, then scrape at the semi-frozen surface to produce small crystals. Repeat until you have fully-frozen and fluffy crystals of strawberry granita.

Honey Frozen Yoghurt

Source: Adapted from a Patrician Wells recipe.

2 egg whites
110g caster sugar
pinch of salt
honey of your choice to taste (I added about 2tbsp of eucalyptus honey)
500g low-fat Greek yoghurt

Whisk the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, whisking, until stiff peaks form. Beat in the honey.

Fold yoghurt into meringue in three additions. Taste and add more hone if necessary. It should be just too sweet, remembering that freezing will temper the sweetness.

Churn in an ice-cream machine until the mixture has the texture of softly whipped cream. Transfer to a tub, cover and reserve in the freezer.

For assembly you will also need some assorted berries. In the photograph have just used strawberries and blueberries, but adding some juicy blackberries and raspberries is divine.

Place a handful of of mixed berries in the bottom of a soup plate. Add a decent scoop of frozen yoghurt on top and finish off with a sprinkling of granita. You can pour the soup around the fruit at the table for a dramatic presentation. (On a more practical note, this means that there’ll be no chance of the soup slopping if you’re a poor waitress like me.)