Strawberry dutch baby with strawberry-top syrup

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C fan/gas 7. First, make the pancake batter: in a large jug, combine the flour, milk, eggs, the 1 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt using a stick blender, whizzing until smooth (or mix in a bowl with a balloon whisk). Set aside while the oven heats up.
2. Remove the strawberry tops and put them in a saucepan. Cover with about 250ml water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, then set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a 22cm heavy ovenproof frying pan (cast-iron works best), swirling to coat the base of the pan. Once it’s very hot and bubbling fiercely, pour in the batter and quickly transfer to the oven. Bake for 18-22 minutes until the pancake is deep golden and risen (don’t be tempted to open the oven before it’s cooked as it will deflate, like a yorkshire pudding).
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5. While the pancake bakes, cut the strawberries into quarters. Bash open the cardamom pods and put the seeds in a small saucepan. Toast for about
   1 minute, then pour in the strawberry top-infused water through a fine sieve. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 3-5 minutes until reduced by a third (you need enough liquid to poach the strawberries). Add the 70g sugar, bring back to the boil, then simmer for 2 minutes. Turn the heat to low, stir in the strawberries and cook for a final 3-4 minutes (the syrup should blip every now and then but not bubble properly, as you don’t want the strawberries to collapse).
6. Serve the hot dutch baby filled with scoops of ice cream and the strained, syrup-soaked strawberries (add a drizzle of the strawberry-flavoured syrup if you want). Dust with icing sugar and bring it to the table so everyone can dig in.