No proper southern lady would dream of serving those store bought pucks of sponge with their strawberries. Frankly, they suck. And while there is a place for cake with strawberries and creamy frosting, real strawberry shortcakes are made with biscuits. And this is a darn good recipe for them. It’s worth the work to do it from scratch! No flouring of the counter necessary here!
Strawberry Shortcakes
1 lb strawberries
1/2 c sugar
whipped cream
1/4 c powdered sugar
Biscuit ingredients:
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
6 T unsalted cold butter cut into pats
1/2 c heavy cream
1/4 c sour cream
1 t vanilla extract
Wash and cut the tops off of the strawberries, slice and put in a bowl. Stir in the 1/2 c sugar and a T of water. Allow to sit on the counter while preparing biscuits.
Preheat oven to 400. Sift the flour into a medium mixing bowl. Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or two forks to cut the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are pea sized.
Combine the cream, sour cream and vanilla in a measuring cup. Mix. Add to the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Gently knead the dough by hand about 5 or 6 times in the bowl until you have a ball of dough. Do not over knead or you’ll get tough biscuits. Shape into a 1 inch thick square and cut into 4 pieces. Pat the edges smooth and place the biscuits on a greased cookie sheet. Bake until lightly golden- about 20 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes.
To assemble, place a hot biscuit on a plate. Cut off the top. Sprinkle powdered sugar on both inner sides. Top the bottom half with a spoonful of strawberry juice, a scoop of strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. Add the top half of the biscuit, more strawberries and more whipped cream. Eat immediately.
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Oh yeah… have you heard? I am having a baby next month!!!