Spiced blueberry & myrtle sauce for ice cream

This blueberry ice cream sauce recipe is one of 12 mouth-watering, monthly recipes (this one's August), using seasonal and locally-sourced produce

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes + 1 hour cooling time

Can be vegan.

What you need:

200g blueberries
5 - 7 wild myrtle leaves (available from some supermarkets)
2 tbs sugar (or to taste)
pinch cinnamon
To serve:
Vanilla ice cream* (use vegan ice cream if desired)

What you do:

Put blueberries in a small saucepan with just enough water to come half way up the fruit.
Tie myrtle leaves in a piece of muslin to make a little bag like a ‘bouquet garni'- otherwise you'll never find them again! Add the bag to the fruit, pushing well down into the fruit, together with a pinch of cinnamon. Bring to the boil, cover and then cook very slowly until the fruit is tender - about 15 minutes. Cool for at least 1 hour to let the flavours infuse.
Remove the bag of myrtle leaves and discard. Add sugar to the fruit to taste. Serve warm or cold over ice cream as it is, or sieve to make a smooth puree.

Alternative:

If you cannot get myrtle leaves, try using a large bay leaf instead (remember to remove before eating). You won't need to put this in a muslin bag as it'll be easy to find!

Works well with other blackberries as well.

Recipe created by the Cordon Vert cookery school