If you’ve tasted a locally grown strawberry, I don’t need to convince you of their superiority. If you’re still eating supermarket berries, stop and head to your nearest strawberry farm stand. That could be, depending on where in Arkansas you live:

■ Arnold Family Farm Store in Alma, facebook.com/ArnoldStrawberries

■ Barnhill Orchards in Lonoke, facebook.com/Barnhillorchards

■ Bell Urban Farm in Conway, facebook.com/BellUrbanFarm

■ Cabot Patch in Cabot, facebook.com/cabotpatchfarms

■ Holland Bottom in Cabot, facebook.com/HollandBottomFarmLLC

■ McGarrah Farms at Pea Ridge in Lowell, facebook.com/mcgarrahfarm

■ McGarrah Farms Rivercrest Orchard in Fayetteville, facebook. com/mcgarrahfarmsrivercrestorchard

■ Mountain Home Berry Farm in

Mountain Home, facebook.com/MHBerryFarm ■ Pine Ridge Farms north of Van Buren, facebook.com/pineridgefarmsAR

■ Salt Box Farm in Benton, facebook.com/SaltBoxFarmStrawberries

■ Scatter Creek Berries and Produce in Paragould, facebook.com/scattercreekberries

Arkansas berries are not like supermarket berries. They’re grown for flavor, not sturdiness. They’re fragile and deserve special handling. Your best bet for enjoying them at the peak of freshness is to eat them the day you buy them — this holds for berries you pick yourself and those already picked — but sometimes our eyes are bigger than our bellies.

Here are some tips based on experience and the advice of the growers we buy from:

Early and mid-season (where we are right now) berries are firmer and will keep a bit longer than late-season berries. Late season berries really do need to be eaten or “worked up” (i.e. frozen, cooked, or sliced, sugared and refrigerated) as soon as possible.

■ Do not wash the berries until just before using. Moisture encourages spoilage. Spoilage spreads quickly.

■ Spread them out in a single layer, ideally not in the cardboard box you carried them home in, inspecting each berry as you go, but avoid over handling them. They bruise easily. Discard any that are showing signs of decay — gray or brown spots, fuzz or mold. We usually spread them out on a rimmed quarter or half sheet pan sheet lined with paper towels and then slip the pan inside a very large produce bag. Early season berries will keep this way in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but don’t expect them to look or taste as good as they did the day you bought them. Late season berries will keep this way for a day, maybe two, but I wouldn’t push it much longer than that. m To freeze whole berries, cap or hull berries and place in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze (this keeps the berries from freezing together). Once frozen, transfer berries to a freezer bag. m Sliced berries can be frozen

with or without sugar. I usually add about 1 tablespoon sugar and a splash of lemon juice for each quart.

I like to keep a batch or three of this sauce in the freezer. It’s bright, fresh-tasting and absolutely delicious swirled into plain yogurt and even better spooned over chocolate ice cream.

Strawberry Sauce

½ pound fresh strawberries, capped and thickly sliced

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, combine the berries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook, stirring often, over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until berries break down and mixture becomes syrupy. Remove from heat. Sauce will be chunky. If you prefer a smooth sauce, let it cool and then run it through a blender or food processor.

Transfer to a jar or freezersafe container for storage.

Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week or several months in the freezer.

Makes about 1 cup.

Recipe adapted from “Great Scoops: Recipes From a Neighborhood Ice Cream Shop” by Marlene Haley and Amelia Ryan of The Merry Dairy with Anne DesBrisay

When I first started making strawberry shortcake with Toasted Angel Food Cake I would slather the sliced cake in butter before cooking it in a grill pan. I recently discovered I like it better without the butter, simply sliced and toasted on a nonstick griddle. For this presentation, the toasted cake is cut into cubes — almost like croutons — and served with lightly sweetened berries and drizzled with cream. Pound cake works just as well as angel food cake.

Strawberries and Cream With Toasted Cake

4 cups sliced strawberries

1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

12 (½ to ¾-inch) slices angel food cake or pound cake

4 tablespoons heavy cream

In a medium bowl toss berries with granulated sugar. Set aside while you toast the cake.

In a nonstick skillet or griddle, toast the cake on both sides until golden brown. Cool slightly and then cut cake into cubes.

Divide cake among serving bowls. Spoon berries over cake and drizzle with heavy cream. Makes about 4 to 6 servings. This small-batch dessert combines a rich, buttery shortbread cookie base with lightly flavored and justsweet-enough cream cheese and strawberries for a fresh take on shortcake. The cream cheese is flavored with a small bit of aromatic liqueur and sweetened with confectioners’ sugar. The shortbread crust can be made a day or two ahead and kept in an airtight container. I cut back the

sugar a touch in this recipe adapted from Christina Lane of Dessert for Two.

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

For the shortbread base:

7 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes and slightly softened

¼ cup confectioners’ sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour Pinch salt (two pinches if using unsalted butter)

For the topping:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

6 to 7 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, divided use

2 tablespoons Pimm’s, St. Germain, Licor 43, Grand Marnier or other aromatic liqueur, divided use (see note)

8 to 10 large fresh strawberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-by5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper leaving several inches of overhang on the two long sides. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter, ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, flour and salt. Work the butter into the dough using a pastry blender, two knives or your finger tips until the mixture resembles very coarse meal. The mixture should just hold together when squeezed in your palm. Turn mixture out into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes, until fragrant and just golden brown on the edges.

Let cool completely.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, 5 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar and 1 ½ tablespoons of the liqueur until smooth and creamy. Taste and if the mixture isn’t quite sweet enough, add another tablespoon of sugar.

Hull and slice the strawberries. Toss in a bowl with 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar and the remaining liqueur.

Using the parchment overhang, carefully lift the shortbread from the pan and place it on a serving platter. Spread the cream cheese over the shortbread crust and then top with sliced berries. If you want a picture-pretty dessert, overlap the slices like shingles (you won’t use all of them) and then serve the extra berries and their juices spooned over the bars as you plate them. Cut into bars just before serving.

Makes 2 (big) to 4 (modest) servings.

Note: Lane’s original version called for Pimm’s, an English gin-based liqueur flavored with herbs, citrus and spices. I especially love strawberries and St. Germain together, so that’s what I used. St. Germain is an elderflower liqueur. Licor 43, a Spanish liqueur citrus and vanilla among its 43 flavorings, is also excellent with strawberries. For a no-alcohol version, substitute elderflower syrup, lemon juice, orange blossom water or rose water. A splash of vanilla extract would also work.

Strawberry pie is a springtime

staple in Arkansas. And there are as many ways to make strawberry pie as there are bakers making pies. This version keeps the heat to a minimum letting the berries’ fresh flavor shine.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

4 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ cups cold water

1 (3-ounce) OR ½ (6-ounce) box strawberry flavored gelatin (don’t use sugarfree)

Generous 1 ½ to 2 quarts (about 2 to 2 ¼ pounds) fresh strawberries, rinsed, capped and patted dry

1 (8 to 10-inch) graham cracker crust, prepared or homemade (see note) Whipped cream, optional for serving

In a medium saucepan, stir together the cornstarch and sugar; add the cold water and stir until cornstarch is dissolved, making sure to break up any clumps. Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture is clear and thick — it should coat the back of your spoon and leave a trail when you run your finger (Careful! It’s hot.) through it. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin. Let cool slightly.

Pile the berries in the prepared crust, placing the largest berries on the bottom and then filling in the gaps with the smaller ones. Carefully pour the gelatin mixture over the berries, making sure each berry is coated with the glaze. Depending on how big your pie plate is and how many berries you pile in it, you may have some extra glaze/gelatin left over. Chill until set and easily sliceable — at least 2 hours.

Serve topped with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 1 pie.

Note: To make your own crust, mix together 1 ½ to 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar and 4 to 5 tablespoons of melted butter until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press mixture evenly in the bottom and up sides of a 8- to 10-inch pie plate and bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely before filling. Depending on which brand you use, 10 to 14 whole (full sheets) graham crackers equals about 1 ½ cups crumbs after blitzing in a food processor.