Berries are a versatile fruit and can be eaten year round.

In summer straight out of the fridge, served with chantilly cream, or sprinkled across a home-made pavlova or scattered through some jelly.

One of the great things about berries is that the frozen ones are perfectly fine to use – you don’t have to be worried about using “fresh” berries if you don’t have access to them.

In winter I don’t mind them in a crumble or in a free form tart…

I just cobbled together some berries with a little caster sugar, encased them with some short crust pastry and baked in the oven until pastry cooked. Serve with cream and/or ice cream! So warm and satisfying on a cold winter’s day!

I also enjoy berries with pancakes.

I was lucky enough to find Callum Hann’s raspberry-swirled butter recipe in his book I’d eat that! (published by Murdoch Books) along with his recipe for ricotta pancakes.

I made the butter to accompany my own buttermilk pancakes. That butter is so decadent!

Combine 100g (3/4 cup) frozen raspberries in a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.

Heat gently to thaw the berries then increase the heat and simmer for 2-4 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and a syrup forms.

Remove from the heat, pour the raspberries and syrup into a bowl and refrigerate until cold.

Use a hand-held electric beater to beat 120g of softened butter and 1 tablespoon of icing sugar together until pale and creamy.

Fold in the chilled raspberry mixture briefly so it swirls through the butter.

This butter is a lovely balance of sweet and tart.

There are so many more uses for this butter than just with pancakes, so give it a try and let me know how it worked out for you.