STRAWBERRY FILLING RECIPES RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 2 round 20cm sandwich tins.
  2. Cube up the butter, then cream together with the sugar in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract.
  3. Beat the eggs, then gradually mix into the creamed butter and sugar. Sift, then fold in the flour, baking powder and ¼ of a teaspoon of sea salt with a large metal spoon until just incorporated (don’t overmix).
  4. Stir in 1 splash of milk to loosen the batter, then evenly divide it between the 2 cake tins.
  5. Bake the cakes in the oven for 22 to 25 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. To test, insert a skewer into the middle of a cake; it’s ready when the skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  6. Once completely cool, pour the cream into a large bowl, scrape in the vanilla seeds and whisk until you have soft peaks.
  7. Sift in icing sugar and gently fold through. Place one of the cakes on your chosen plate or cake stand and spread over the vanilla cream, but not right to the edges or it will spill later.
  8. Hull and roughly slice the strawberries, then scatter on top of the second cake. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with extra strawberries, if you like.

Steps:

• 1. Making jam is actually pretty easy once you've sterilized your jars ready to go. This is a soft set jam and tastes like you wouldn't believe – it makes a great gift too. Get creative and make nice labels for the different jars. It’s absolutely delicious simply spread on fresh buttered toast, dolloped onto a portion of rice pudding, used as a filling for a homemade Victoria sponge or, as an extra special treat, enjoyed with scones and clotted cream. Give it a go!
  2. Before you start, sterilize the jars and their lids to get rid of any bacteria. Either put them in the sink (lids unscrewed from jars) and cover them with boiling water from the kettle, filling the jars with the water; or simmer them, completely immersed, in a very large pan of boiling water for 10 minutes; or lay the jars and lids on a baking tray in the oven and heat them at around 100°C/225°F/gas ¼. And if you have a good dishwasher with a very hot cycle you can sterilize them in there as well.
  3. Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds in a saucepan with the strawberries and the sugar. Mush it up with a potato masher to make a lovely slurry, leaving a few chunky bits of strawberry in there to add a bit of texture.
  4. Place the pan on a medium heat, bring it to the boil then simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, carefully skim any foam off the top of the jam then leave it to cool a little. After about 15 minutes, divide the jam between your sterilized jam jars. Leave to cool completely then cover the jars and pop them in the fridge. Once sealed, the jam will keep for about a week, but is sure to be long gone before that!