happy memorial day!

Nothing says summer like strawberry shortcake-so to kick off the unofficial beginning of summer, here is my version-slightly sweet, tender biscuits smothered in whipped cream and macerated strawberries.

Strawberry Shortcake

for the fruit

1-2 pints of strawberry
sugar to cover them
zest of one orange

for the cream

1 pint heavy cream
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the biscuits

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2 cups heavy cream

pre heat your oven to 375 F

rinse the berries in water, remove the tops, and slice them. add the orange zest (and maybe a splash of grand marnier if you have a bottle laying around) and sprinkle the top with sugar. mix with you hands and let sit out at room temp while your biscuits are baking.

time to make the biscuits!

in a food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. I use part cake flour for tenderness. if you do not have any, go ahead and use all purpose flour.
cut in the butter by using quick pulse motion-if you just run the processor at this stage, you risk the chance of the heat of the machine warming up the butter and making a doughy mess. besides, it is too easy to over process the dough. be gentle! pulse! it is ready when the mixture looks like coarse corn meal and is a pale yellow color.
I always stop with all the mechanics at this point and dump everything in a big bowl. I like to add the cream by hand, so I can keep a hand in the dough. like when making pie dough, weather, water content in the flour & butter etc. can effect the dough-you do not want to add too much cream or the dough will be difficult to work with-a sticky mess that will cling to your hands!
drizzle half of the cream over the flour mixture. fluff the mix with your hand, and add some more. when the dough comes together you are done. if you need a little more cream, this is o.k. too. you are looking for a dough that stays clumped together, but is not too sticky. I give the dough about 4-5 folds while still in the bowl.
lightly flour a large cutting board. you can lightly flour the table, but I like just being able to pop the cutting board in the sink and not having to clean up such a big mess. plus, if you wash it in a dish washing machine, you can guarantee that the surface you're rolling the dough out onto is sterile. I flour the surface, then roll my rolling pin over it so it gets coated in flour, but not too much. pat down the dough with your hands as much as you can, then use the pin until the dough is about 1/2 inch thick. I use a rectangular cutter to avoid having tons of scraps and having to re-roll them, making a tougher biscuit. Place the biscuits on a parchment covered cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
in a small bowl, whisk together an egg & some milk or heavy cream until the egg is well mixed in. brush the tops of the biscuits with this, then sprinkle the top with sugar if you like-I like the crunch of coarse sanding sugar, but it is not necessary. bake, spinning the pan 180 degrees every 10 minutes to ensure even baking, until the biscuits are golden brown and feel firm-ish to the touch. a cool trick is that an almost baked biscuit will feel heavy-a baked one will feel lighter. same with scones. try it out, it is a great test for done-ness.
while the biscuits are cooling, whip up the cream until it reaches stiff peaks. I use a stand mixer or a hand mixer for this, but it is not too difficult to do by hand. if you are using a machine, avoid the temptation to use speed 10-I usually let my cream beat up slowly-it gives it more time to add more air, and it allows you to make sure you do not mistakenly end up making butter.
I think shortcakes are best when all the layers have time to meld together, so if I am serving them to guests I like to assemble them about an hour ahead of time, and let them sit in the fridge. Pull the out about 15 minutes before serving so they are at room temperature.
Happy Summer!