Black Pepper-Roasted Strawberry Sundaes with maple cacao nibs

Hello friend, I hope you’ve had a gentle start to the new year. It’s only been in the last week that it’s really started to feel like summer here in NZ, after what has felt like 5 months of rain the sunshine sure makes for a welcome change. And with sunshine comes ice cream!

I love ice cream, whether in a cone, in a bowl or eaten straight from the tub with a spoon, it’s the perfect easy summer treat. It’s also nice to take said ice cream and add fun stuff to it for a simple and always winning dessert. I’m not gonna lie, I love a good ol’ banana split, but it’s also nice to play around with other fruit as well. So long as the elements of cool creamy ice cream, something fresh and flavourful and something with a bit of crunch are there, you can’t really ever go wrong.

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Black Pepper-Roasted Strawberry Sundaes with maple cacao nibs

This is a lovely one to prepare in advance as both the roasted strawberries and caramelised cacao nibs store well. I’ve used dairy-free vanilla ice cream, but of course, chocolate would be another great alternative!

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 litre of your favourite vanilla ice cream I used Little Island dairy-free
• 500 grams fresh strawberries hulled
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• freshly ground black pepper

maple cacao nibs

• 1/2 cup cacao nibs
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• pinch fine salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Cut strawberries in half and transfer to an ovenproof dish. Drizzle over maple and add a few generous grinds of black pepper, how little or much is up to you, or simply leave off if it’s not your thing. Roast 20-25 minutes or until berries are tender and a lovely thick syrup surrounds them. Remove from oven and set aside until cool. These can be prepared up to two days in advance and stored in a lidded container in the fridge (where the colour actually becomes richer).
• Combine cacao nibs, maple syrup and a pinch of fine salt in a small frying pan over medium-high heat and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the maple starts to caramelise. Transfer to a plate and allow to cool, where they will harden further. These can also be prepared in advance and stored in a lidded jar at room temperature for up to a week.
• To serve, scoop ice cream into glasses, top with roasted strawberries and a little of their syrup and scatter with cacao nibs.

Notes

This recipe was first created for and featured in Nourish Magazine, NZ.