Strawberries are one of mine, and my family’s, favourite fruits. They are beautifully sweet and their bright red colour always enlightens a plate. We grow them on the allotment and most of the fruit is usually eaten well before it makes its way into the kitchen. In fact it most often doesn’t even make it into a punnet! When they do get home, we use them in a range of desserts. Here are my favourite five recipes.

Strawberry Eton Mess  – A fabulous combination of cream, strawberries and meringue. Whip cream to stiff peaks, then fold in some of the strawberries whizzed with a touch of elderflower cordial. Break up some meringue and fold into the cream, followed by the remaining strawberries sliced. Pop into small glasses and top with a mint leaf and a couple of sliced strawberries.

Elderflower Pannacotta with Macerated Strawberries – I’ve blogged the recipe for this recently, but its such a delicious dessert. The creamy and floral panna cotta combines well with the sweet and juicy strawberries. Macerating the fruit in a little elderflower cordial really heightens their strawberriness.

Frozen Strawberry Smoothie – A quick and easy way to use up strawberries which have become overripe. Just collect these strawberries and pop them in the freezer as you go along. When you’re ready for a cold smoothie, just whizz the frozen strawberries with a banana, a few tablespoons of yoghurt and a dash of honey. Serve with a straw. The kids always like a straw!

Strawberry tart – This is an adaption of the berry tart I blogged about last year, combining mascarpone cream in a pastry case and topped with sweet berries. For the filling, whip 500g mascarpone, 100ml single cream, 3 tbsp. sugar, a little lemon zest and a knife point of vanilla paste until its shiny. Evenly smear the filling onto a 28cm sweet shortcrust pastry tart case, then top with small strawberries. Glaze with a bit of strawberry jam warmed up.

Strawberry and Ginger Cheesecake – We make this with gluten free ginger biscuits, but any ginger biscuit will do. Crush 80g of biscuits and divide between 4 glasses. Beat 200g soft cheese, 200g yogurt, 4tbsp. sugar and a little vanilla paste together until smooth, before spooning over the crumbs. Chill until ready to serve. Meanwhile hull and slice berries and toss in a little strawberry jam, then place on top of cheesecakes and serve.

What ways do you use strawberries in your cooking?