Strawberries & cream layer

• all-butter puff pastry↗375g g
• icing sugar↗4 tbsp
• ripe strawberries↗450g g

  or normal and wild

• vanilla pod↗1

  or 1 tsp vanilla extract

• double cream↗284ml ml
• golden caster sugar↗140g g

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Roll the pastry out to a square about 30 x 30cm. Lay on a large baking sheet, place another sheet on top and bake for about 20 mins until golden. Heat the grill to high, dust the pastry liberally with icing sugar and carefully caramelise under the grill. Dust with another layer of icing sugar and return to the grill to caramelise again. While warm, cut the pastry biscuits into 12 neat rectangles, trimming the edges as you go. These can now be kept in an airtight container for a day.

2. 2

   Halve or quarter the strawberries, depending on their size, then dust with a little icing sugar and set aside. Split the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the cream, then whip lightly with the caster sugar until it just holds its shape.

3. 3

   To assemble, place a blob of cream on each plate and, at jaunty angles, stack the biscuits, cream and strawberries.