Spring is in the air, and with it have come the first strawberries of the season. The ones at the Farmers Market this weekend were so lush and beautiful that I bought 3 pints! That day I had a party to go to, so I made cupcakes inspired by one of my favorite desserts, Strawberry Shortcake. The recipe comes from Food & Wine magazine, with the only change being that I used strawberry jelly as opposed to strawberry jam, for a smoother textured frosting.
The cupcakes were delicious, but a few days later I was craving the real thing - traditional strawberry shortcake. It's been years since I have made it. So when I invited my friend Andrea over for lunch today, I baked some sweet biscuits and whipped some cream, and voila, one of the best desserts of summer.
Normally when you make strawberry shortcake, you sweeten the strawberries with sugar until they get very juicy and pulpy. I didn't do that this time because the strawberries were already so naturally sweet, and I put a little bergamot mint on top which added a little bit of brightness. The biscuit recipe is from my old standby, the Silver Palate New Basics cookbook. It has an English feeling to it, which made it perfect after a round of Wii Tennis!
A couple of notes about making biscuits. You don't want to overwork them. They are easier to make than pie crust, but the principle is the same: you work butter into flour and pat out the dough to a uniform size (no rolling involved though, thank God) before cutting it. I use my hands, never a pastry blender or two knives. Also, every time I have made this recipe, the bottoms of the biscuits have burned. I just cut the burned part off and the tops are perfect.
Sweet Biscuits
- 1 3/4 C. all purpose flour
- 1 T. baking powder
- 2 T. sugar
- 1/2 t. salt
- 5 T. unsalted butter, cold
- 3/4 C. half and half
- 1 T. butter, melted, and 1/2. T. sugar, for sprinkling
In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
Cut the butter into small pieces, and cut it into the flour using two knives, a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the half and half, and stif gently until the mixture forms a mass. Gather it into a ball.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, knead it for about 30 seconds, and then pat it out to form a 3/4 in thick rectangle.
Using a 2 3/4 inch cookie cutter, cut out 8 circles.
Arrange the biscuits about 1 in apart on a baking sheet. Baked until puffed and golden, about 14 minutes.
Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and allow them to cool.
