SOURIS, PEI — On Prince Edward Island, the start of summer is often a bit ambiguous. The official seasonal start date comes, we see lots of green and we hear about hot weather somewhere else. But none of these is a guarantee that summer has arrived.
There is, however, one absolutely reliable sign, and we're right in the middle of it now: strawberry season.
There are many awesome food adventures within walking distance of my island kitchen. Selecting lobsters right off the boat. Foraging for wild chanterelle mushrooms in the woods. Poaching fresh herbs by the light of the moon from a nearby restaurant garden. All fun and flavourful - for dad.
My son, Gabe, has a different perspective. His idea of culinary nirvana is an hour or so in a U-pick strawberry patch. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. And if a few berries magically make it home, we celebrate with shortcake.
There are opportunities every step of the way to add your signature touch to this timeless seasonal dessert. (Brian McInni for The Globe and Mail)
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Like many cooks, I often rely on a recipe to jump-start my baking escapades, but even when I'm reading a gold-standard recipe, passed down through generations, I can't resist fiddling with it, freestyling and adding personality. And you can too - especially with strawberry shortcake.
Lightly sweetened ripe strawberries moistening a crisp golden biscuit under a pillow of freshly whipped cream - it doesn't get much better than that, and there are opportunities every step of the way to add your signature touch to this timeless seasonal dessert.
Start with the shortcake. There are many ways to sweeten a biscuit, but only one that allows you to stir the works together and skip the laborious "cutting in" of the butter.
After adding butter and milk to batch after batch, I started wondering if there was a way to use cream instead. Butter is made from cream and, theoretically, cream includes enough milky liquid to moisten the dough too. And why not add some baking spice flavour?
It worked - and it only took me about four tries to figure it out. (Even the near misses tasted pretty good buried under strawberries and cream.)
The strawberries are easy, too. To get a quart ready, hull them, halve them, sweeten them. There are lots of sweet kitchen staples you can choose from: plain old white sugar; aromatic honey; brown sugar; for a special twist, even orange marmalade works, adding lots of flavour and forming a beautiful sauce with the berries.
Whipped cream is just an experiment waiting to happen. All you need is heavy 35-per-cent whipping cream, any sugar, any flavouring and your imagination. Go for it! Vanilla extract is wonderful, but before whisking begins, try adding some citrus zest or a few spoonfuls of berry jelly or jam. For a grown-up twist, you can try a splash of your favourite liqueur. Grand Marnier whipped cream anyone? You bet.
Strawberry Shortcake
Nutmeg Cream Biscuits
What you need
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
11/4 cups 35-per-cent cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
What you do
Preheat oven to 450 F. Whisk the wet and dry ingredients separately, then pour them together and stir until they form a loose dough.
Briefly knead and fold it by hand just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated and you can pick up the whole mass.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Pat it down until it forms a rough disc about one inch thick.
At this point, you may simply cut the disc into wedges or squares or you may use a set of biscuit cutters or a glass to cut circles.
You may also brush the tops with a bit of milk, cream or whisked egg and dust them with white sugar for a fancier look and crunchy texture.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Makes four large biscuits, eight average-sized.
Whipped Cream
What you need
1 cup 35-per-cent whipping cream
2 tablespoons white sugar, or brown sugar, or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, or zest from a lemon or an orange, or 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier, Triple Sec or your favourite liqueur, or 1/2 cup of jam, jelly or marmalade
What you do
Whip everything together until pillowy smooth. Serve immediately. Makes two cups or so.
Sweetened Strawberries
What you need
1 quart of fresh local berries, hulled and halved
A few spoonfuls of white sugar or honey
A few spoonfuls of your favourite liqueur (optional)
1 cup of jam, jelly or marmalade (optional)
What you do
Toss together and let rest for up to a few hours. The sugar will draw moisture from the berries and form a flavourful syrup. Makes four large portions or six to eight smaller ones.
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Beppi's wine matches
Strawberries and champagne are a classic pairing, but, for this dessert especially, be sure to make it a sweet or demi-sec (semi-dry) bubbly. One low-cost alternative to bona fide demi-sec champagne is Asti Spumante. Even better is the lightly spritzy moscato d'Asti, such as Fontanafredda Moncucco Moscato d'Asti (about $20).
Another fine choice is a sweet, late-harvest dessert wine from Niagara, such as Château des Charmes Late Harvest Riesling ($18 for 375 millilitres) or Cave Spring Select Late Harvest Cabernet ($22 for 375 millilitres).
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