Strawberry shortcake

  

SHORTCAKES

• 250g of plain flour
• 50g of sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 85g of butter, chilled and diced into 1cm cubes
• 80g of milk
• 80g of double cream, plus a little extra to glaze

STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

• 300g of strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1 tbsp of sugar

TOPPINGS

• 300ml of double cream
• 1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
• 300g of strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1/2 lemon

Method

1
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cubed butter into a food processor and pulse until you have a coarse rubble. It is important you don’t blend to a fine crumb as you need some larger pieces to create a nice crumbly texture

2
Add the milk and cream and pulse until a dough comes together (it will be quite a wet dough)

3
Tip out onto a floured surface and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a little round cake and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, leaving gaps between each as they will expand during baking. It’s OK if they look a little rough around the edges as this is a rustic dessert, so try not to overwork the dough too much. Place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes

4
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark

5
Glaze each cake with a little cream and then sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 20–30 minutes until golden, then set aside to cool

6
While the shortcakes are baking, make a strawberry compote by placing the strawberries in a pan with a tablespoon of sugar and simmering until collapsed (about 5 minutes). Leave to cool

7
Place the halved strawberries for the topping in a bowl with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and 1 tbsp of sugar. Stir and set aside to macerate

8
Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold in the vanilla seeds

9
Once everything has cooled, it’s time to assemble the shortcakes. Use a serrated knife to slice each shortcake in half horizontally. Dollop some whipped cream over the base of each one, then drizzle with the strawberry compote and the macerated strawberries. Place the other half of the cake on top and finish with more cream and strawberries, then garnish with baby mint leaves