Strawberry shortcake
4 Jun
When I was a kid, my mom and I would make the long drive from Virginia up to Syracuse, NY to visit with my aunt and grandmother some summers. And while I wasn’t particularly close to this grandmother, she did make some of the most amazing strawberry shortcakes.
When she knew we’d be visiting, she’d plan a trip to pick fresh berries, would make her biscuits from scratch, and even make fresh whipped cream. It was the perfect summer dessert.
When we went to the farmers market this past weekend, I knew I wanted a quart of strawberries. The last quart we had simply eaten, but as I purchased this quart I said to Ray, “I should make strawberry shortcake.” He readily agreed, and was intrigued as I explained that I would make it with biscuits, not pound cake.
I adapted the strawberry shortcake biscuit recipe from Simply Recipes, cutting it down to a more manageable amount. The biscuit dough comes together easily, and the rest is a cinch. The great thing about this dessert is that it isn’t overly sweet. You let the berries do most of the work, and they pair beautifully with the biscuits, which are buttery and fluffy. I also like this recipe because you can customize it to your liking … want more berries? Add them. Only want a small shortcake? Use half of a biscuit. It’s just fantastic, and I encourage you all to go to your farmers market this week and make this dessert!
Ingredients
Directions
Before starting on the dough, place a mixing bowl in the fridge to chill for the whipped cream.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
Add the cold butter cubes to the dry ingredients and integrate it with a pastry blender or fork, breaking up the butter so it's pea-sized.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the cream and vanilla.
Mix until the dough is evenly moistened and comes together--do not over mix.
Gently knead the dough by hand for 5 or 6 turns, letting it come together as a ball that is tacky, but not overly sticky.
Lightly flour your work surface and remove the dough from the bowl. Shape the dough into a 5 inch to 6 inch square and about 1 inch thick.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment or baker's silicone and place the dough square onto it. Cover the dough lightly with plastic wrap and chill for 20-30 minutes.
While the dough chills, heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the hulled and quartered strawberries in a mixing bowl with 1 tbsp of sugar. Toss to coat and let them macerate at room temperature while the dough chills.
Once the dough has finished chilling, divide it into 4 even squares and separate them so that there is roughly 2 inches between each one.
Bake the biscuits for 18 minutes.
As the biscuits cool, make the whipped cream. Combine the cream, confectioners sugar and vanilla in the cold mixing bowl and whip until the whipped cream begins to hold its shape. Chill if you're not using immediately.
Check the strawberries ... they should have released some juice by now. Measure out about 1/2 of the berries and place in a bowl.
Use a fork or potato masher to mash the remaining berries in the mixing bowl, releasing more juice. Add the non-mashed berries back into the bowl and stir gently to combine.
To assemble the shortcakes, first cut each biscuit in half. Place the bottom biscuit into a shallow bowl, and ladle some strawberries on top. Add whipped cream, then place the top of the biscuit over it. Ladle more strawberries onto the biscuit, and finish with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
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