Strawberry and cream pie

Serves 8

400g strawberries, hulled 400ml double cream 120g butter, plus extra for greasing 300g digestive biscuits 1 tbsp vanilla paste Grease a 23cm round, 5cm deep, loose-bottomed tin. In a large saucepan, melt the butter until liquid. In a bowl, crush the biscuits with the end of a rolling pin. Off the heat, add the biscuit crumbs to the butter and stir thoroughly. Press the mixture into the prepared tin using the back of a dessert spoon, to make a tart base, pushing it together until it is solid. This may take several minutes. Chill the biscuit base for 1 hr. Place half the strawberries in a food processor and blend until pureed. In a large bowl, whip the double cream for 3 mins until firm, then fold the strawberry puree and vanilla paste through the cream. Fill the biscuit base with the cream mixture and flatten with the dessert spoon. Slice the remaining strawberries in half and decorate the top. Leave to chill for 1 hr before serving.

“And where the springy turf was gay With thyme and balm and many a spray Of wild roses, you tempted me With strawberries” William Ernest Henley, ‘With Strawberries We Filled A Tray’