Strawberry shortcake

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

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

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

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6

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

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

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

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

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