This is me cooking at my most typical: I wanted to make a strawberry rhubarb pie because those are the most “summery” fruits I can think of. For some reason I was dead set on making a filling with almond paste. So I walked down to the store to get the things I needed and returned with no almond paste. So what do I do? Go back and get some? No, I go: “Hmmm, I wonder what I could substitute for it?” And then I came up with an entirely new recipe that I had no idea if it would work or not, which is a risk considering that I was going to bring it to a party a few hours later

Anyhow, it worked, cos I’m a genius!

You need, for the dough:

100 g butter

1 cup flour

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp water

And to make the filling you need:

150 g rhubarb

300 g strawberries

1 1/3 cup sourcream

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 vanilla pod

1/2 tsp cardamom

Here’s how to:

1. Add the water and mix until it’s a smooth dough.
2. Put the dough into a pie form and press it until it covers it and about an inch of the sides. Put in the fridge.
3. Cut the rhubarb into slices.
4. Slice the strawberries too.
5. Put the fruit in the pie shell.
6. Mix the sourcream with the sugar.
7. Cut open the vanilla pod and scrape out the content usinf a teaspoon. Add it to the sourcream.
8. Add the cardamom.
9. Finally, whip an egg into the mix and beat it until thoroughly mixed.
10. Pour the mix over the fruit.
11. Bake in the oven for app 40 minutes at 350 °F/180°C.

Let cool. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream or plain as it is.

So, today is Midsummer’s Eve here in Sweden and that makes it almost compulsory to eat strawberries in one form or the other. This dessert contains a lot of strawberries, is easy to make and tastes absolutely divine (but then, anything with strawberries and cream normally do).

You need (per person):

1 shortbread (I used Walker’s but if you’re up for making your own, more power to ya!)

app 4-5 strawberries (depending on size)

a little Cointreau

some vanilla sugar or sugar and vanilla essence

whipped cream

Here’s how to:

1. Grab a glass
2. Crush the shortbread
3. Chop the strawberries and sprinkle a few drops of Cointreau on them and just a pinch of vanilla sugar.
4. Mash the strawberries, making sure to make it really lumpy. There should still be whole pieces chopped strawberries in there!
5. Put the crushed shortbread on the bottom of the glass.
6. Put the strawberriies on top.
7. Top with whipped cream.
8. Feel like a domestic goddess and, since it’s Midsummer’s, reward yourself with a drink!