This weekend when I went to the greenmarket I could hardly contain my excitement when I saw little blue baskets of ruby red strawberries sitting on tables. Strawberries are definitely my favorite fruit, so I'm a sucker for them throughout the entire season. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them, but I bought two pints because I was sure I could find something. Then, as luck would have it, I cruised on over to Lottie + Doof and there was the most glorious fresh strawberry pie. I hesitated to make it only because I wasn't sure if I wanted to have a whole pie at my fingertips all weekend, but when some friends invited us to an impromptu picnic, I got started. Oh but if only I read directions...
I had about 2 hours to make this and I felt confident that I could. I went ahead and picked up some shortbread cookies for the crust and started making it. Then I read the entire directions (which aren't long at all and should have been at least perused before I started), only to read that the pie needs to set for 4 hours. I don't know how many times I've done this before, you'd definitely think I'd have learned by now. But nope. So here I was, a whole bunch of strawberries chopped up, soaking in sugar and lemon juice, a pie crust waiting to be filled and an hour before we had to go. I did a quick calculation of my possibilities and strawberry shortcake it was. The pie crust would have to be frozen until I had more time.
Biscuits, or in this case shortcake, are one of those things that tend to intimidate people, but in reality, they're really easy to make. Plus, with a few tweaks, they can go sweet, savory or just plain buttery. I ended up using a recipe from the Joy of Cooking with a few changes to make it a little more flavorful.
When they were done I let them cool for a few minutes, then packaged them in a paper sack and packed them in the picnic bag. I poured the strawberry mixture into a ball jar, gathered some paper plates and silverware and headed to the picnic, eager to try out my strawberry shortcake.
The result is something magical and quite perfect for a picnic on a warm summer day. The biscuits were nice and buttery, with hints of lemon and cinnamon. The texture is slightly crumbly but still fluffy enough to really soak up some of the juice. I topped each one off with a few heaping spoonfuls of strawberries and some of that sweet lemony liquid. I'm telling you, it was like a little piece of heaven. Super delicious, super quick and rather lovely to look at.
strawberry shortcake
a compilation of recipes and tweaks from Lottie + Doof and the Joy of Cooking
serves 12
strawberry mixture:
2 pints of strawberries, hulled and diced
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
shortcakes:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
6 Tablespoons butter, chilled
3/4 cup milk
Preheat oven to 450°
1
Stir together the strawberries, lemon and sugar and mix until sugar is dissolved. Let sit for at least a half hour.
2
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and lemon zest.
3
Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until it's the size of small peas.
4
Make a well in the center and pour in the milk.
5
Stir until the dough just comes together.
6
Lay a piece of plastic wrap about the size of a large baking sheet on the counter.
7
Place the dough mixture on the plastic wrap and work it into a log, about 3 inches in diameter.
8
If the dough feels warm, stick the log in the fridge for about 20 minutes. If it's still pretty cool, cut the log into slices about 3/4" thick.
9
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
10
To assemble the strawberry shortcake, simply place a shortcake on a plate or in a bowl, then scoop out a few heaping spoonfuls of strawberries, then drizzle a few more spoonfuls of the strawberry/lemon liquid.
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May 26th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Nice save! I can’t tell you how many time I have done that with recipe instructions. The first lesson is always “read through the whole recipe before starting”, right? Just forget sometimes.
May 26th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I can so relate to you on the miscalculation of time part of it. Love how you covered up!
May 27th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I bought strawberries today at the market and they made me so freaking happy.
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I LOVE strawberry shortcake! Love it! I even had the dolls as a kid.
I like to make mine with a chunky balsamic-strawberry syrup. I also prefer biscuits instead of the silly angel food cake of my youth, even though that’s still pretty good too. Of course I can’t resist adding homemade sweetened whipped cream to the top.
April 6th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
resist adding homemade sweetened whipped cream to the top.