What a triumph for Andy Murray at Wimbledon! Lawn tennis, especially Wimbledon, conjures images of a summer afternoon eating sweet, ripe strawberries.
Strawberry shortcake is one of those American desserts that we have adopted. It is nothing like our shortbread in texture but is more typical of the scones that we associate with cream teas. This recipe makes a delicious dessert or cake, which looks impressive but is easy to make.
Ingredients
- 250g self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 75g unsalted butter, cut into small bits
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 beaten egg
- 4 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp icing sugar
For the filling:
- 1 punnet of strawberries
- 90 ml whipping or double cream
- 85g Greek style yogurt
METHOD
- Pre-heat the oven to 220C/200F/gas mark 7
- Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the caster sugar and make a well in the centre.
- Mix together the egg, milk and vanilla extract and pour into the well that you have made in the dry mixture. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the liquid, and then bring together with your hands to form a soft dough. Gently pat the dough into a smooth ball and turn it out onto a floured surface.
- Roll out dough into a 19cm round. Transfer it to a greased baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until well risen, firm and browned on the top. Slide onto a cooling tray to cool.
- Once cooled, slice shortcake in half horizontally. Cut the top half into 8 equal wedges. Place the bottom half on plate/serving tray.
- For the filling whip the cream and fold in the yoghurt. Spread over the base of the shortcake.
- Reserving 8 whole strawberries, slice the remaining in half and arrange them over the cream mixture. Carefully put the wedges that you have cut into place on top of the shortcake and strawberry cream base and arrange the reserved whole strawberries on the top. Sprinkle with sifted icing sugar and serve and eat within a few hours to enjoy at its best.
