Ingredients

For the vanilla ice (to be made the previous day)

One lemon

1 litre full-fat milk

140g sugar

4cm cinnamon stick

1-2 vanilla pods (the more the merrier)

3 egg whites

For the compote

1 large punnet of strawberries

1-2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp rose syrup

Method

1 Using a potato peeler, peel away two 1 cm-wide strips of lemon zest, avoiding the white pith. Cut the vanilla pods in half lengthways. Put the milk, lemon rind, all but a heaped tablespoon of sugar, vanilla pod and cinnamon stick into a pan on a low heat and slowly bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk and allow to cool. Strain the mixture into a freezer-proof dish and freeze overnight.

2 Break up the frozen mixture into a food processor, blend until it looks like slushy snow and transfer into a large bowl. Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl with the remaining sugar and a teaspoon of lemon juice until it forms soft peaks. Fold one tablespoon of egg white into the frozen milk until smooth, then repeat with the remaining mixture. Pour into a cleaned freezer dish and place immediately back into the freezer. Leave for several hours until it has the consistency of soft ice cream.

3 Wash and hull the strawberries and slice them lengthways. Sprinkle with the sugar (you may need all or a little less of it depending on the sweetness of the fruit) and let them sit for 30 minutes to release their juices. Drizzle a little of the rose syrup over the strawberries, and adjust to taste.

4 Spoon the vanilla ice into a bowl and ladle the compote on top. Best eaten when freshly made.

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