I tried holding out until June 14th, or Strawberry Shortcake Day, but I simply could not resist the lure of plump, macerated strawberries enveloped in soft clouds of whipped cream, set atop a buttery shortcake biscuit. These are the strawberry shortcakes of my childhood, just as my Mom would make them. A special weekend treat, and if we were really lucky there would be leftovers for breakfast the next morning.
Prepare the Strawberries in advance:
- Combine:
- 1 quart sliced Strawberries
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- Gently stir the sugar into the strawberries.
- Cover and place the strawberries in the refrigerator to rest for a few hours, stirring occasionally. The sugar should dissolve into the strawberries leaving you with a sweet, delicate strawberry juice coating the strawberry slices and seeping to the bottom of the bowl.
Shortcakes
Recipe makes 10 shortcakes.
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups Flour
- 3 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 6 tbsp chilled Butter
- 3/4 cup Milk or Cream
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 450 F (~232 C).
- Sift together all of the dry ingredients.
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
- Make a hole at the center of your ingredients, and pour in the milk and cream.
- Stir the dough until it is uniformly combined.
- Roll out the dough until it is about 1/2″ thick.
- Cut out shortcake rounds (~ 3″ diameter).
- Place the rounds on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes.
Assemble Shortcakes:
- Strawberries
- Shortcakes
- Whipped Cream (1/2 pint Heavy Cream + 2-3 tbsp Powdered Sugar = whipped until fluffy)
- Cut Shortcakes in half.
- Place the bottom half on the serving plate.
- Spoon Strawberries over the bottom half. Make sure to include some of that sugary juice.
- Add a scoop of whipped cream.
- Sandwich the shortcake together by placing the top half of the shortcake over the whipped cream.