Berries with Halva & Maple Syrup

This is such an easy summery dessert that looks pretty and posh though it’s really just berries and ice cream with a few adornments. It’s all about choosing really good ice cream – I’ve used a vegan ice cream that Ilaria and I love – and my advice is to go for the best you can afford, choosing one that is not loaded with sugar as there are two sweet items to add to the dish.

You can use strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or other fresh berries, in any combination. If using strawberries, hull and slice. Put scoops of ice cream – and you want it creamy-soft, not hard and icy – onto plates and surround with berries. Top with shaved pistachio halva and drizzle with maple syrup. That’s it! Serve, and wait for the complimentary noises of mmm, ahh, ‘so good.

For a treat, get a bottle of the bees knees of maple syrups, Escuminac, pure organic late harvest maple syrup from the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec. Available from Sabato