Fresh Strawberry Shortcake | Full Fork Ahead

By McCarleyRHLAC

Ingredients

• For the shortcakes:
• 1 2⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 Tbs. baking powder
• 1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 3 ⁄4 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into
• small pieces
• 3 ⁄4 cup buttermilk
• 1 ⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract
• For the strawberries:
• 4 cups strawberries, hulled and cut into slices
• 1/4 inch thick
• 1 ⁄4 cup sugar
• For the whipped cream:
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, well chilled
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from fullforkahead.com

Preparation

Step 1

To make the shortcakes, preheat an oven to 400°F.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt until well blended. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the pieces are no larger than peas. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and gently toss with a fork or rubber spatula until the flour is just moistened and the ingredients are blended.

Turn the shaggy dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently press the dough into a thick rectangle about 6 by 4 inches. Using a large sharp knife, trim the edges even, then cut the dough into 6 equal squares.

Place the squares on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing them well apart. Bake until they are puffed and golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly or completely.

Meanwhile, prepare the strawberries: In a bowl, toss together the strawberries and sugar with a fork, lightly crushing some of the berries. Cover the berries and refrigerate until well chilled or until ready to serve.

To make the whipped cream, in a deep bowl, combine the cream, sugar and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form and the cream is billowy, about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve or for up to 2 hours.

To serve, split the warm or cooled shortcakes in half horizontally and place the bottom halves, cut side up, on serving plates. Spoon some of the strawberries, including the juices, over each half and top with a dollop of the whipped cream. Top with the remaining shortcake halves, cut side down. Serve immediately.

Notes:

When recipes call for cold ingredients, they mean it. Keep any wet ingredients like the buttermilk in fridge as long as possible. For ingredients like butter or shortening I’ve found it’s best to cut it up into small pieces and then stick it in the freezer for at least thirty minutes prior to incorporating into the dry ingredients. The colder it is the easier it will be to get that elusive pea-sized texture they talk about. I’ve found the texture I usually achieve looks like small rocky and sandy granules than anything else.

Though the recipe suggests serving immediately, you can make all the steps above ahead of time, say, in the morning if you plan to serve guests that afternoon, storing the berries and whipped cream each in their own containers in the refrigerator, the uncut shortcakes in an airtight container on your counter. I would not suggest making the shortcakes a day or more ahead, as that light texture probably won’t maintain itself that long.

And just a quick disclaimer on those cook/prep times above – I never take the amount of time it says on those. Usually more! So take the with a grain of salt, I say. I included hulling and sugaring the berries as prep time, and actually putting the shortcake ingredients together as part of their cook time. I dunno, is that logical? We’ll just say yes.