Ingredients
- For the Shortbread
- 150g plain flour, plus a little extra
- 100g corn flour
- ½tsp fine sea salt
- 125g unsalted butter cold
- 90g caster sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- For the cream
- 5 tbsp. icing sugar
- 300ml double cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- For the strawberry sauce
- 400g strawberries, hulled
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 2 tbsp. icing sugar, to taste
Method
- Place the double cream into a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla extract and caster sugar and whisk gently until stiff peaks form.
- For the sauce, place the strawberries and lemon juice into a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in the sugar, to taste. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl.
- To make the shortbread, sift the flour, corn flour and salt together. Beat the butter and caster sugar together, using an electric mixer, until smooth. Add the egg slowly, then turn the machine to its lowest setting and add the flour, a spoonful at a time, until the mixture just comes together and forms soft dough; do not overwork. Press the dough into a ball, wrap in Clingfilm and chill for at 20 mins.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/ 140°C fan/gas 2½. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a (¼in) thickness and cut out rounds, using a (3½-4in) pastry cutter.
- Place the rounds on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden. Leave on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes to firm up, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- Put a small amount of sauce on a place, and then a biscuit, pipe a little cream on top, and then place about 5 strawberry halves around the edge facing outwards. Put another biscuit on top, pipe with a swirl of cream and top with a final strawberry half. Decorate the plate with strawberry coulis, serving extra coulis and cream alongside, if you like.