Basil-and-mint-scented whipped cream with crushed boozy berries

Plus a dessert-trolley's worth of ways to elevate whipped cream into divine cold desserts. And a surprising ingredient that makes whipped cream exceptionally light and airy.

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The kinds of dishes that give me jolts of joy aren’t complicated cheffy ones, but those where a simple star ingredient has been raised above its station. I’m thinking here about that kitchen staple: cream.

Last weekend, we had a delicious meal at Jackson Boxer’s Brunswick House restaurant (located on London’s chaotic Vauxhall roundabout, it’s all urban ugliness on the approach but inside the elegant Georgian building you discover French bistro chic and glam chandeliers, and outside a cool hedge-screened terrace). Anyway, the quality of the ingredients and cooking are ace, and one of the highlights of our meal was dessert: milk cake with strawberries and miso Chantilly. A real flavour bomb.

It reminded me of Helen Graves’ recipe for Tequila-macerated strawberries and Salted Whipped Cream in her latest book, BBQ Days, BBQ nights (a corker). She describes it as one of the best last-minute dessert to have in your back pocket and reader, she isn’t wrong; we’re making it on repeat at our house. The strawberries are sweet, boozy and tangy soaked in their tequila, lime and sugar bath - basically a margarita in pudding form. But to me, the cream really makes the dish. It’s not salty per se, but carries hints of umami and sweetness. It’s still cream, just more emphatically so.

Both dishes prove the point that cream is easy to elevate and sexy up. Served with summer fruits, at their most gorgeous just now in the northern hemisphere, scented cream can be the star of lovely summer puddings that require very little effort.

So today I’m offering you a heaving dessert-trolley’s worth of ideas and tips for elevating whipped cream into something extra fabulous. Plus, I’ve included a technique I’d never come across before researching today’s newsletter for making whipped cream superbly fluffy and airy. Cream whipped this way also contains less fat but I’m not mentioning this as a lower-calorie way to eat cream (God forbid). It’s just that sometimes a lighter version of whipped cream - something less rich and mouth-coating - is welcome.