Strawberry Shortcake

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F and grease and line two 9″ round cake tins.

Place the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a medium sized bowl and set aside. Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until well combined and smooth. Add in the buttermilk and mix until well incorporated. The batter may look a bit split at this stage, but this is fine. Add in the flour mix and mix on medium-high speed until well incorporated, about 1 minute.

Divide the batter between the 2 cake tins and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes and then turn the oven down to 160 C for the final 10-15 minutes. Cakes are done when risen, golden on top and an inserted skewer in the centre comes out clean.

Remove tins from the oven. Leave the cakes to cool in the cake tins for an hour before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, make the filling.

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract into a medium sized bowl and beat until thick. You want soft peaks. Place one of the cakes on a plate and then spread half of the whipped cream on top of it. Sprinkle 1 cup of diced strawberries on top and spread them out. Place a small amount of cream right in the centre on top of the strawberries and then place the second layer on top, bottom side up. Spread the remaining cream on the top of the cake and sprinkle 1 cup of strawberries on top. Spread them out and then, if you’d like, place 3 whole strawberries in the centre to garnish.

Cake will keep well wrapped in the fridge for 2 days.

Recipe by Annie.