strawberry shortcakes

I'm trying my hand at food blogging. I'm probably not going to do it very often (There are 25 photos in this post...that's a lot of work to sort and upload!), but I'd thought it'd be fun to try out.

This was the first time I've had strawberry shortcakes (That I can remember)..,but we had strawberries that needed to be used, and my mom spied this recipe in a magazine - so strawberry shortcakes it was!

Note: The recipe I used is based on this one - I've made some changes, though.

Pour in some flour in a food processor...

Add part of the sugar...

The baking powder...

And the salt. Blend it all together in about five one second pulses - make sure it's completely mixed.

(I'm sticking a "Read more" in here...otherwise this would take up waayy too much space on the front page of my blog)

Next comes butter. Yummy goodness. Chop it all up into cubes and put everything into the food processor - which still has the flour in it.

Once again, blend in five one second increments, until the butter resembles large peas.

Note: I over mixed it a bit, but it turned out fine.

Remove the mixture from the food processor, and move to a lightly floured surface. Roll into a ball...

...and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut in half, then crosswise forming square biscuits. Be an idiot and forget to take a picture of this step. Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet (I used a baking stone and completely forwent the parchment paper), and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, we can get started on our strawberries. Get a whole mess of 'em and throughly wash the berries. Remove the stems and quarter.

Now we get to add sugar (Or as Lilly calls it - soo-gah) to the strawberries. Yum. Me likey. Set aside for about 30-45 minutes so the juices can be released. Make sure to sneak a couple, too ;)

Get your dough from the refrigerator and beat an egg (and forget to take a picture of that too). Brush the egg onto the top of the biscuits. 

Then sprinkle some sugar on top. Bake the biscuits - while they're baking we can get started on the whipped cream.

Pour some heavy cream in a medium sized bowl.

The recipe called for vanilla extract, but we happened to have some vanilla beans, so I used those instead. Just slit the bean lengthwise, and get the yummy seeds from the inside.

Dump some sugar in with the vanilla and cream...

...then beat the heck out of it (until peaks form) with a handheld electric mixer. 

When the biscuits are done, assemble the shortcakes - cut the biscuits in half, and fill with strawberries and cream.

Then die of deliciousness. 

Strawberry Shortcakes

For the biscuits

- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

- 5 tablespoons sugar

- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

- A pinch of salt

- 1 stick (1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

- 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

- 1 large egg, beaten

For the filling

- 1 pint fresh strawberries

- 3 tablespoons sugar

- 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

- 1 vanilla bean

Preparation

Biscuits:

Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If using baking sheet, line with parchment paper - if using baking stone no preparation is necessary. Place flour, four tablespoons sugar, and salt in food processor. Using on/off turns, process to blend. Add butter, and once again, use on/off turns until butter resembles large peas. Add cream, using on/off turns until moist clumps form. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and roll in a ball; flatten into an approximately 8x4 inch rectangle (about 1 1/4 inches thick). Cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise, forming ten square biscuits. Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet or stone and chill for 20 minutes. 

Brush top of biscuits with egg and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bake until biscuits are golden-brown and tester inserted horizontally comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

Filling:

Wash strawberries, remove top, and quarter. Mix strawberries and two tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl. Let sit for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Slit open the vanilla bean lengthwise and remove seeds from inside. Using a hand held electric mixer, beat cream, vanilla seeds, and remaining one tablespoon of sugar until peaks form.
Cut biscuits in half, divide strawberries, and spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of berries. Cover with the top half of the biscuit. 

I hope this wasn't too long...but I had fun pretending to be a food blogger. ;)

-carlotta