A summer classic, strawberry shortcake is a cinch to put together – whether for guests or one individual portion at a time.Tad Seaborn/The Globe and Mail
A summer classic, strawberry shortcake is a cinch to put together – whether for guests or one individual portion at a time. Make the biscuits the morning you want to serve it (or even the night before) and store them in sealed Tupperware. Then load on the whipped cream and strawberries. Slice and toss the berries in sugar about an hour before serving to allow them to soften and release some juice. This will make about 12 shortcake biscuits.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
Method
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 F. In a medium bowl combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. To the dry mixture, add six tablespoons cold, cubed butter. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are no bigger than small peas.
Step 2: Add milk and one egg to a measuring cup and whisk with a fork. Pour into the dry mixture and mix gently until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured surface and gently knead until it comes together then pat into a 1-inch thick square. Using a 2 ½-inch round cutter, cut out as many biscuits as you can and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Re-work the dough scraps to cut out more biscuits until no dough remains.
Step 3: Brush the biscuits with any remaining drops of the milk/yolk mixture. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until biscuits have risen and are golden brown.
*You can also form the dough into one large ¾” thick round crust and use as the basis for a cake option – add the whipped cream and berries on top.
Sue Riedl