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| Sugar macerated strawberries served over homemade cream biscuits with homemade whipped cream. |
Cream Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake
Despite the sweltering summer heat and threat of hurricanes, I truly do love living in this area of the Deep South for many reasons, one of which is that we get an early taste of many seasonal veggies and fruits - and right now, that's strawberries. Generally showing up in abundance from Louisiana in our markets first, followed shortly by the Florida harvests, before we swing back to California strawberries for the rest of the season. With beautiful strawberries, how could I not feature a strawberry shortcake?Now, technically, at least in my mind, this really isn't a "shortcake," though we cooks have certainly taken liberty with this dish, even using those little mini sponge cakes usually sold right next to the strawberries. To me an authentic strawberry shortcake means a biscuit, and while I usually do a more dense biscuit for it (I've included that in the recipe notes), these cream biscuits are also a perfect vehicle. Besides, it gives me an opportunity to showcase yet another biscuit too!
A cream biscuit is simply one that replaces the usual fat of lard, shortening, eggs or butter with more heavy cream. We're gonna also dip them in some melted butter. I know! A little bit decadent I guess but let's agree we won't make these every single day of our life and I think we'll be good. These cream biscuits are so very good and super super easy to make even if you think that you're a bit biscuit challenged. I've added sugar since I'm using these as a shortcake biscuit, but for a regular ole side bread, just eliminate the sugar and you've got yourself one mighty fine biscuit.
By the way, if you're looking for more strawberry recipes, you can browse mine right here. Just keep clicking through the "Older Post" link at the bottom to continue viewing them all. Since we're talking strawberries, while this strawberry butter recipe will show up here on the site eventually, be sure to check out the recipe I posted exclusively on the Facebook page. That butter would go really great with this biscuits, just sayin'!
Here's how to make a delicious cream biscuit strawberry shortcake for those gorgeous strawberries.
First, you'll want to taste the strawberries for sweetness. As always with fruit, if your strawberries are particularly sweet, you may need less sugar; if they are more tart, you may need more. Like measurements for salt and pepper and other seasonings, the sweetness should be adjusted to taste, so always taste and adjust. We're gonna macerate the strawberries. That's just a fancy word for slice up some strawberries and sprinkle them with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and let them sit so that they break down a bit.
Toss to coat and refrigerate for one hour.
When you're ready to put together your shortcakes, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and then melt 1/2 stick of butter; set that aside to cool. Whisk together 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar. I'm making these biscuits a bit sweet for the purpose of shortcake, but if you're making these as just-because biscuits, omit the sugar. Add 1 cup of the cream and stir with a fork until dough comes together and away from the side of the bowl, adding additional cream only as needed.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Gently knead the dough for about a minute bringing some of the bench flour into the dough as needed - just enough for it to come together and feel smooth
Pat the dough into about a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.
Use a biscuit cutter or just cut into 8 square biscuits using a pizza cutter or a bench scraper. Don't worry about perfection here y'all!
Dip each biscuit into the cooled melted butter and place spaced apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated 425 degrees F oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until light golden brown. Transfer to a rack to fully cool.
When the biscuits are fully cooled, use a serrated knife to split the biscuit in half and spoon the strawberries and some of the juice evenly on each biscuit bottom. Add a dollop of whipped cream and top with the other half of the biscuit. Spoon additional strawberries on top, add another dollop of whipped cream and serve immediately.
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Recipe: Cream Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake
©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min Yield: About 8 servings
Ingredients
For the Biscuits:
- 1 pound of strawberries, rinsed and cleaned
- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, more or less
- Whipped topping or homemade whipped cream
Instructions
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of melted butter
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 tablespoon of granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 cups of heavy cream, more or less
Taste strawberries for sweetness before adding sugar and add 1/4 cup or as needed; cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
Preheat oven 425 degrees F. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
For the biscuits, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add 1 cup of the cream and stir with a fork until dough comes together and away from the side of the bowl, adding additional cream only as needed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead for about 60 seconds.
Pat dough about 1/2 inch thick and cut into about 8 square or round biscuits. Dip each biscuit into the cooled melted butter and place onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until light golden brown. Transfer to a rack to fully cool.
When the biscuits are fully cooled, use a serrated knife to split the biscuit in half and spoon the strawberries and some of the juice evenly on each biscuit bottom. Add a dollop of whipped cream and top with the other half of the biscuit. Spoon additional strawberries on top, add another dollop of whipped cream and serve immediately.
Cook's Note: When using strawberries, always check the level of sweetness by tasting them first. Some strawberries are sweet already, some are very tart. Start with about 1/4 cup of sugar and increase from there if the berries are very tart. Omit the sugar to make plain cream biscuits, appropriate as a side bread for any meal.
Classic Shortcake Biscuits: Prepare strawberries as above. Whisk together 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and increase to 1 tablespoon of sugar. Increase butter to 1 stick cold butter, cutting it into the flour. Reduce the heavy cream to 1/2 cup and mix in along with 1 large egg. Pat dough, cut out and bake as above.
Homemade Whipped Cream: Add 1 cup of heavy cream to a chilled mixer bowl with a chilled wire whisk and beat on low until mixture just begins to thicken. Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar a little at a time, increasing speed to medium and beating just until cream has thickened to a whipped topping consistency.
Source: http://deepsouthdish.com
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