After our annual strawberry picking, my favorite family feast is strawberry shortcake — warm, dense biscuits topped with juicy ripe berries and fresh whipped local cream. I sometimes plan ahead, making biscuits before we pick, then storing them, uncooked, in the freezer on parchment-lined sheet pans. That way they’re ready to pop into the oven for an ideal strawberry shortcake supper on our return. It’s our once a year dessert-for-dinner meal. Makes 12 shortcakes, about 6 generous servings
Berries
3 pints strawberries
Sugar to taste
Biscuits and cream
2 cups all purpose flour
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cup heavy cream
4 to 5 tablespoons butter, melted
l – Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2 – Hull (or cut the tops from) the strawberries. Slice thickly. In a medium bowl, mash slightly with a potato masher or large spoon until very coarsely chopped. Stir in sugar to taste and set aside.
3 – Sift together in a medium bowl: the flour, a heaping tablespoon of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Add 1 cup of the cream, then mix the dough with your hands or a rubber spatula. Knead no more than a minute, just to bring the dough together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board or counter. Pat it into a square about ½ inch thick. Cut the dough into 12 squares or use a biscuit cutter to cut 12 rounds.
4 – Cover a baking sheet with parchment. Pour half of the melted butter onto the baking sheet. Place the biscuits on top, and pour or brush the remaining butter over each. Bake 12 minutes, or until the tops begin to brown.
5 – While the shortcakes are cooking, with a hand whisk or an electric beater set on high, whip the remaining cream just until it begins to form floppy peaks. Season to taste with a touch of the remaining sugar, then whip just to combine, forming soft peaks. (Do not over whip.)
6 – Split the warm biscuits gently by hand or with a fork, and place on 6 plates or in 6 shallow bowls. Top each bottom half with the berries, whipped cream, and the biscuit’s top. Or let diners prepare their own feast. Serve immediately!
My husband Tommy and our daughter Emma savoring strawberry shortcake under the honeysuckle vines in our New England backyard.
