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Strawberry Shortcake

21 Sep

 

I was on a mission to make a great strawberry shortcake.  In my mind, the shortcake should always be more biscuit like. It has become fashion to make a strawberry shortcake with something that resembled angle food cake rather than the shortcake I know and love.  I went through AllRecipes.com and read a lot of reviews and comments and eventually decided on the one that had the most people complaining about how this didn’t taste like commercially bought shortcake.  Perfect!

I also picked up an awesome tip when reading the reviews.  It is always a difficult task to keep the butter cold (an important part of flaky crust) while also getting it small enough to blend into a crust.  So someone recommended to freeze it and then use a cheese grater to make little butter ribbons.  Wouldn’t you know? Worked like a charm!  I will be doing this for all future baking.

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I wanted to make smaller short cakes, so I opted to make the dough into smaller balls and then press them down to create smaller shortcakes (rather than 2 large ones that I would layer). I also tried another version where I put them in mini tart pans, and that worked well also.

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The dough was a bit sticky, but as long as you’re not too worried about getting your hands dirty, easy to work with. I also added in almond and vanilla extracts to add a bit of flavor.  It was a good move.

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You are supposed to layer it with sugar coated strawberries, but I am a fan of adding balsamic vinegar to the mixture to add a little punch to the flavor.  I then made some home made whipped cream, layered, and adorned with fresh strawberries.  It was delicious!!

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RECIPE
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Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake
(Original Credit to AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 quart strawberries, sliced
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (I wound up needing a bit more since it was a humid day and my dough was a bit sticky)
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 dash ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I added this)
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract (I added this too)
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 2 cups sweetened whipped cream
  • Balsamic Vinegar (enough to coat the sugared strawberries)

Directions

  1. In a bowl, gently stir strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar; coat with balsamic vinegar, chill.
  2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; cut in butter until crumbly. (refer to tip above about grating butter)
  3. Combine milk and egg yolks; mix well.
  4. Add vanilla and almond extracts.
  5. Add to crumb mixture, stirring just until moistened.
  6. Divide and pat into two greased 9-in. round cake pans. (Or into 8 4-5 inch tart pans, or divide into 8 balls and flatten onto a greased or Silpat cookie sheet)
  7. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; spread over dough.
  8. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
  9. Bake at 300 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden.
  10. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. (Layer may be thin.)
  11. Cool completely.
  12. Place one cake layer on a large serving plate; spread with half of the whipped cream.
  13. Spoon half of the strawberries over cream. Repeat layers. Garnish with mint if desired.