Serves 4-6

The strawberries and balsamic vinegar provide a refreshing acidity to contrast with the rich, creamy ice-cream, which I’ve flavoured with poppy seeds for an interesting twist. For a quick and easy dessert, you could simply stir the poppy seeds through a good-quality tub of slightly softened vanilla ice-cream.

200g Mara des Bois (or regular strawberries)
4 tbsp good-quality aged balsamic vinegar, to drizzle

For the ice-cream
250ml full-fat milk
250ml double cream
1 vanilla pod
60g caster sugar
6 free-range egg yolks
20g poppy seeds

1 First make the ice-cream. Pour the milk and double cream into a heavy-based saucepan. Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the back of the knife into the pan along with the pod and a tablespoon of sugar. Bring the liquid to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
2 Whisk the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar in a large bowl. Remove the vanilla pods from the creamy milk and discard. Gradually trickle the hot liquid over the eggs, beating continuously with a balloon whisk as you do so. When fully incorporated, pour the combined mixture back into the pan and stir over a medium-to-low heat for a few minutes until thickened (the custard should lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon and have the consistency of double cream).
3 Remove the pan from the heat and strain the custard through a fine sieve, into a bowl set over a large pan of iced water. Leave to cool completely, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming.
4 Stir the poppy seeds into the cooled custard, then pour into an ice-cream machine. Churn until almost set (20-25 minutes). Transfer to a container and freeze.
5 Remove the ice-cream from the freezer 5 minutes before serving. Hull and halve the strawberries. Place in wide serving bowls and drizzle over the balsamic vinegar. Top with one large or two small scoops of poppy-seed ice-cream.

Times Recommends

• Thomasina Miers’s cabbage and bitter leaves on garlic toast
• Food that's good for body and soul
• Carrot, date and goat's cheese salad