How To make Strawberry Shortcakes – A Smile Maker.
It is getting to be that time of year when, finally, great summer fruits start showing up on grocery store shelves and at the farmers market. In Europe, where I have been lucky to have spent a large amount of time both visiting and living, the seasons are often marked with whole menus celebrating the return of various food items. The asparagus menus, deer menus and strawberry menus stand out. It is the strawberry season that stands out as it means strawberry shortcakes are a WOW moment that can once again be created. I like mine traditional – a sconey, biscuity cake topped with delicious strawberries and dolloped with rich whipped cream. I know this is a blog that often talks about innovation, but I like the classic. They have a twinge of southern charm to them. They are different (and better) than a strawberry short cake where the strawberries are layered with the whipped cream between layers of yellow cake, baked in 9 inch round pans. It is a pleasure to receive an individual serving that overflows with strawberries and whipped cream, capped at the top and bottom with a delicate and delicately sweetened shortcake- all yours to be savoured! I have seen the serving of strawberry shortcakes stop table conversation. The anticipation was thicker than the actual whipped cream. I have seen the normally honest person attempt to steal bites off other’s plates when they are not looking. I have seen strawberry shortcakes take people back to their childhood in a flash. They are smile makers. They are simply delicious.
How To Make Strawberry Shortcakes – The Recipe and Video
To make a shortcake, you need a short dough which means that the flour to fat ratio will be lower – that is there will be a fair amount of fat in recipe. The shortness – which leads to flakiness and tenderness in baked goods like pie crusts – is due to the fat and sugar. In the recipe below, I have used skim milk and the strawberry shortcakes come out just fine!
Below is the ‘How To Make Strawberry Shortcakes’ Video. It showed you everything you need to know about how to make strawberry shortcakes. The full recipe follows.
- 1.5 lbs strawberries
- powdered sugar
- Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 stick of butter, cold
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup of cream
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar – or to taste
- Clean, hull and slice the strawberries.
- Sugar the strawberries to taste with powdered sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes then cut the butter into the flour until it has a sandy texture and there are no lumps of butter left. You can use a fork, your hands or a pastry cutter to achieve this. You can also use a food processor.
- Beat the eggs, milk, cream and vanilla together. Using a fork, add the wet ingredients to the flour, gently stirring to combine. Just before it comes together, spill the mixture on to a floured surface, Using a pastry scraper or your hands gently fold the mixture on itself until it just comes together. Do not kneed it or you will make tougher shortcakes. It may be a little sticky, use more flour to help with this. Using your hands, not a rolling pin, gently pat the dough into a round about an inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out the shortcakes.
- Place the shortcakes on a baking sheet sprayed with baking spray.
- Bake until golden brown. Since it is a short dough the shortcakes will spread a little more then they will rise.
- When done, remove from the pan with a spatula and cool on a wire rack.
- Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Using a whisk or an electric mixer, whip the cream until soft peaks form. If you like firmer cream, keep whipping!
- Slice a Shortcake.
- Spoon loads of strawberries on the bottom of the shortcake.
- Spoon on loads of whipped cream.
- Top with the top of the shortcake.
- Serve immediately!
I like to hull and slice up a lot of strawberries – at least a pound and a half. If your strawberries are juicy and tasty, simply slice them up. If they need a little help flavorwise, slice them up and sprinkle them with a bit of powdered sugar and let them macerate.
I like my whipped cream whipped soft so it engulfs the berries in my strawberry shortcakes. You can whip it anyway you like.
ENJOY!
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
Do you know how to make Strawberry Shortcakes? Do you have any twists on this classic to share? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
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