Strawberry Shortcake

Having now completed my doctoral degree, I am so happy to have a bit more free time again.  I’ve been meaning to post this strawberry shortcake recipe for over a year, and actually did the photography when strawberries were in season.  I have a few more postings backlogged, and don’t want to withhold them any longer.  So, enjoy pictures of strawberry shortcake, completely out of season.  You can look forward to making it in June…

In the recipe you crush around one quarter to one third of the strawberries, and slice the rest.  You can see them combined above, which creates a delicious glazed strawberry concoction that will soak into the shortcake biscuits.

The shortcake are rich, slightly sweet, and best served still warm.  I like to dip my shortcake in sugar before baking them–sometimes with regular sugar, sometimes with a larger crystal like demerara.

Strawberry Shortcake

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Serves 6

Strawberries

About 2 pounds strawberries, washed and hulled (I usually just get two 1 lb clamshell containers)

1/3 cup sugar

Shortcake

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar, plus another 2-3 tablespoons for dipping

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in pieces

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon half-and-half or milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the strawberries: Crush one quarter of the strawberries in large bowl, using a tool like a potato masher.  Slice the remaining strawberries, and add to the crushed berries.  Stir in the sugar, adding more if your berries are sour.  Allow the mixture to marinate at room temperature for at least a half hour, and up to 2 hours.

For the shortcake biscuits:  Preheat the oven to 425.  Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until mixed.  Scatter in the butter pieces and pulse into a coarse meal.  Add the milk and egg, pulse until just combined.  Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured counter and bring the dough together into a ball. Pat into a 9 by 6 rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick.  Find a biscuit cutter or top of a glass that is around 3 inches, and cut dough into 6 rounds.   Pour a little sugar onto a small plate and dip one side of each shortcake in sugar, replenishing sugar as needed.  Place biscuits on a baking sheet, sugar side up and bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow biscuits to cool slightly before serving.

For the whipped cream: Add whipping cream, sugar and vanilla to the bowl of standmixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip for about a minute on medium speed, then increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form.

To assemble, split each warm biscuit in half on an individual serving plate.  Spoon 1/6 of the strawberries onto each biscuit, and top with 1/6 of the whipped cream.  Enjoy!