Preheat the oven to 180°c bake and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, then set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder and sugar. Then cut in the butter and rub together with your fingertips until you end up with a breadcrumb texture.

In another small bowl or jug, beat the eggs and vanilla together. Then add this into the flour and butter mixture. Mix together until a dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly knead until smooth. Add more flour if necessary. Then, cut the dough into 3 even segments and set aside in preparation for flavouring and colouring.

To make the chocolate dough, mix together one of the balls of dough with 10g of cocoa. Continue to fold through the dough until the cocoa is combined and smooth in colour. Set aside

To make the strawberry dough, in a bowl mix together one of the balls of dough with the strawberry essence and pink food gel. Add small amounts of flour to the bowl until the dough starts to come together again. Then continue to fold until combined and smooth in colour.

To start the plait, roll each of the 3 coloured balls into thin logs with your hands, about 30cm each in length. Then line them up alongside each other.

If you’re familiar with a 3 strand plait, then you’ll know what to do here. If not, bring the 3 logs of dough together at the top, then grab the two left logs in your left hand, and the right log in your right hand. Begin by crossing the leftmost log over the other in your hand, then place it below the log in your right hand. Then take the rightmost log and cross it over the log you just placed in your right hand, and place it in your left hand underneath the other log. Repeat this process until you have reached the end of your dough.

When all plaited together, again roll with your hands to shape back into one solid log. Continue to roll until dough is brought together and about 30cm in length. See above photos for examples of how this might look.

Place plaited log of dough onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for around 25-30 minutes, or until the vanilla layer is deep golden in colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

After the dough has cooled slightly, use a sharp serrated knife to cut the log on an angle at about 1-1.5cm slices. Then lay the slices back down flat on the same baking tray and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until biscotti has dried out. Flip biscotti over half way through this bake time.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool and harden further. Then, enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee.