Strawberry recipes from iVillagers

Poached Strawberries With Vanilla Cream
Serves 4

150ml port
75g caster sugar
rind and juice of 1 lemon
cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 or 2 punnets of strawberries
150ml double cream
½ tsp vanilla essence
25g caster sugar
½ tsp grated nutmeg
3 tbsp morello cherry jam

1. Put port, sugar, lemon rind and juice, cinnamon and cloves in a saucepan with 150ml water. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves and then bring to the boil.
2. Hull the strawberries and add to the pan. Cover and simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes until the strawberries are tender but still firm.
3. Meanwhile whip the cream, vanilla, sugar and nutmeg until it forms soft peaks. Put in a serving dish and chill.
4. With a slotted spoon, transfer the strawberries to a serving dish and keep warm. Strain the syrup into a small saucepan, add the jam and boil rapidly, stirring, for 5 minutes to reduce it.
5. Pour the sauce over the strawberries and serve warm or cold (but better warm) with the cream.