Makes 4
200g plain flour
2 level tsp baking powder
75g butter, chilled and diced
75g caster sugar
100ml whole milk
125ml whipping cream
1 level tsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
Few drops of vanilla extract
350g Asda Extra Special Strawberries
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Sift the fl our with the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add the butter and stir once to coat in fl our. Lift pieces of the butter and some fl our out of the bowl and gently rub together between your fingertips and thumbs. Keep doing this until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar. Mix the milk with 1tbsp of the whipping cream and then pour it into the bowl of rubbed-in crumbs. Mix with a round-bladed knife to make a soft dough. Gather the dough together with fl oured hands and put on a lightly fl oured surface. Pat down evenly with fl oured hands until it is about 1cm thick. It’s too soft to roll out.
Using a 6cm cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible. Gather up the leftover dough, pat out again and cut more rounds. Repeat until you have eight rounds in total. Place on the baking trays, leaving a gap between each to allow them to spread slightly. Bake for 15-18 minutes until risen and golden brown. Leave on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Whip the rest of the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until it starts to thicken and just holds its shape. Take care not to over-whip – if using an electric mixer, set it on the slowest speed. Slice a few of the strawberries. Sandwich the shortcakes with the cream and sliced strawberries, and dust with icing sugar. Serve the rest of the strawberries separately in a bowl.