Papaya and Strawberries with Sea Buckthorn Sauce

Name: Papaya and Strawberries with Sea Buckthorn Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 0.5 small ripe papaya; 150 gm strawberries; 120 gm thawed sea buckthorn (set aside 1 tbsp for serving); 2 tas sugar (or 150 g sea buckthorn pureed with sugar); 50 gm blueberries; 2 sprigs mint; 4 scoop ice cream (ideally vanilla or strawberry)

June 9, 2026August 25, 2026 Kateryna Bondar

Course

Desserts

Serves 2 people

Prep time

15m

Cook Time

A showstopping summer dessert in which a papaya half becomes an edible boat, filled with scoops of ice cream, fresh strawberries, and blueberries, then drenched in a bright, tart sea buckthorn sauce. The whole thing rides on a contrast of temperatures and flavors: cold ice cream, sweet tropical papaya, and the sharp tang of northern sea buckthorn, which you can easily pull from the freezer even in the middle of March.

What to Know

The flesh of a ripe papaya has a deep yellow color with an orange blush; if your fruit turns out not sweet enough, sauté the cubes in butter with sugar, then heighten the temperature contrast with a scoop of ice cream. Blueberries can be swapped for bilberries, blackberries, or black currants, though for vitamin C blueberries beat them all, which is especially welcome in spring. If you have no sea buckthorn, make the sauce from strawberries. Don’t substitute frozen strawberries for fresh ones: a festive dessert really needs their freshness and aroma, and if imported berries have no scent, add a couple of spoonfuls of strawberry liqueur to the sea buckthorn sauce. The papaya itself can be replaced with melon or even a sweet butternut squash simmered in sugar syrup with lemon or orange juice.

Serve the dessert right away, before the ice cream melts and while the sauce plays off the cold berries. The sauce and cut fruit can be prepped ahead, with the boat assembled just before serving.

Ingredients

Instructions

Mix the sea buckthorn with the sugar, blitz to a puree in a blender, and strain through a sieve. If using ready-made pureed sea buckthorn, simply pass it through a sieve.
Scoop the flesh from the papaya into small balls with a melon baller, or cut the flesh out with a regular knife and dice it into small cubes. Try not to pierce the skin, so you end up with a boat.
Cut the strawberries into wedges.
Place a few scoops of ice cream in the papaya boat, add the papaya flesh, strawberry slices, and the rest of the berries. Garnish the dessert with mint leaves and drizzle with the sea buckthorn sauce.

Nutrition: Calories: 260 kcal · protein 4 g · fat 8 g · carbs 44 g (per serving, estimated)