Strawberries with lime & long pepper syrup

Citrussy and sweet with a little bit of heat, this new twist on berries with balsamic and pepper is best served with cream

  • Prep:10 mins
    Cook:5 mins
    Plus cooling
  • Serves 4
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 130
  • fat 0g
  • saturates 0g
  • carbs 31g
  • sugars 31g
  • fibre 2g
  • protein 1g
  • salt 0g

Ingredients

  • 2 limes
  • 100g golden caster sugar
  • 5 medium-sized 'long' peppercorns, one crushed and rest left whole (or use 2 tsp crushed black peppercorns)
  • 450g ripe strawberries, hulled and halved, or quartered if large
  • vanilla or coconut ice cream, to serve

Tip

Long peppercorns
Looking rather like a small black catkin, long peppercorns have a fiery heat backed up with substantial citrussy and sweet mixed spice notes. You can find them at spice shops, or try online.

Method

  1. Using a vegetable peeler, pare the zest from 1 lime in long strips. Shave away any white pith from the back of the zest (this can make it bitter), then put the zest in a medium pan. Squeeze both of the limes and add the juice to the pan with 3 tbsp water, the sugar and the crushed and whole peppercorns. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, boil, then take off the heat.

  2. Spread out the strawberries in a serving dish, then pour over the hot syrup and allow to cool. As this happens, the syrup will become rosy pink. Serve at room temperature with scoops of ice cream.

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