Tip the strawberries into a bowl and sprinkle over 1-2 tbsp sugar if needed (they may not need any in summer when they’re at their sweetest). Gently stir in the jam, vanilla, lemon juice and cornflour, being careful not to break up the strawberries. Tip into a baking dish (ours was 18 x 28cm) and heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
For the scone topping, weigh the flour into a large bowl and add the baking powder. Rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and a pinch of salt, then pour in the buttermilk or yogurt, and use a cutlery knife to combine the ingredients until they start to clump together. Use your hands to knead the dough briefly until you have a rough, sticky dough, making sure no loose flour remains.
Tip the dough onto a floured work surface and dust with more flour. Press into a roughly 1.5cm-thick disc and stamp out eight scones using a small, round, fluted biscuit cutter – you’ll need to reuse the offcuts to make eight. Arrange over the strawberries in a single layer.
Brush the tops of the scones with a little buttermilk, sprinkle with a little sugar and bake for 25 mins until the scones are golden brown and the strawberry filling is bubbling and juicy. Leave to stand for 10 mins before serving with ice cream or clotted cream.
