Nigel Slater's Recipe for Strawberries with Passion Fruit

There are countless ways to handle strawberry season without smothering them in cream and sugar. I find the most useful are those that I can enjoy for dessert or breakfast; easy ways that flatter berries.

Remove leaves from 400g strawberries, then cut all but the smallest ones in half. Cut 4 passion fruits in half and scoop out their seeds, juice and flesh in a bowl with a teaspoon. Squeeze the juice from a large orange and add it to the passion fruit. Add 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and the smallest pinch of caster sugar. Taste and adjust if necessary. Add the strawberries to the sauce and set aside in the fridge to marinate for about 30 minutes. Serve marinated berries with ice cream, cream cheese or on their own. Enough for 4

You can also introduce a little alcohol - a dash of cassis, liqueur de cassis, is good here instead balsamic vinegar.

You can make a thicker sauce for the berries by pureeing 250g strawberries in a blender or food processor, then tossing them into the fruit of passion. It's also good with a mixture of raspberries and currants: a summer pudding without bread.

It's an invigorating sauce for breakfast. Stir it into your overnight oats or bircher muesli while you eat.

It's also good as a side dish for cheesecake or to serve with fluffy meringues.

I have sometimes used it as a layer in a trifle of summer, pouring the fruit and its marinade onto the fingers of the sponge, then applying layers of custard and cream.

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