This is such a perfect treat at this time of year!

A shortcake is very similar to an English scone but made with egg and cream instead of milk to form the dough.

This recipe makes about 7 x 7.5cm shortcakes

You Will Need:

• 300g Plain Flour
• 1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 2tsp Cream of Tartar
• 100g Butter
• 70g Caster Sugar
• 1tsp Vanilla Essence
• 100ml Double Cream
• 1 Egg

Decoration and Filing:

• 400ml Double Cream
• 100g Icing Sugar
• 14 Sliced Strawberries (about 2 per shortcake more if they are small strawberries)
• 7 Whole Strawberries (one for each shortcake)

Method:

• Grease your baking sheet and preheat your oven to 180degrees C.
• Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar.
• Add the butter, caster sugar and vanilla essence to the sifted ingredients and rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Mix together the double cream and egg.
• Add the cream and egg to the ‘breadcrumb’ mixture and gently bring it together until it forms a soft dough.
• Turn this out on to a floured surface, press out until about 2cm thick and cut into rounds with your cookie cutter. I used a 7.5cm cookie cutter.
• Reform the dough and repeat until all the dough has been used up.
• Arrange on your prepared baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees C for 12-15mins or until golden brown on top.
• If you over bake, the shortcakes will become dry and crumbly but with the cream and the strawberries, they can’t fail to taste great!

Decoration and Filling:

• Whip the double cream and icing sugar together until firm and holds its shape.
• Slice the strawberries.
• Cut the shortcakes in half widthways.
• Arrange the strawberries on the bottom half of each shortbread.
• Put a generous dollop of cream on top of the strawberries and put the top half of the shortcake on top.
• I piped extra cream on top of each shortcake and finished with a strawberry.
• Serve and enjoy!

These are best on the day they are made. I recommend filling and decorating just before serving.