I visited a friend over the weekend who grows strawberries in her garden. On Sunday evening because the weather was rather lovely we spent some time picking the strawberries. They were juicy, red and delicious. I made some of them into an Eton Mess, which is one of my favourite summer desserts. It’s quick, simple and tastes fantastic.

I don’t really have a recipe for Eton Mess. I think traditionally it’s made with meringues, cream, some sugar and summer fruit like strawberries or raspberries. The dessert we made for the Jubilee was a version of it. This time I made it with shop bought meringues, because you can’t make meringues and have a craving for this dessert all in the same evening, some crème fraîche and icing sugar. I measured it all by sight, using 4 crushed meringues, about 3/4 of a pot of crème fraîche, a dusting of icing sugar and a lot of strawberries. Everything was mushed together with minimal fuss. The resulting dessert was a delightful summer sweet.