Well, is strawberry season in upstate NY and it’s been a family tradition to head out to the fields and start picking! Today I went to Tassleberry Farm in Westmoreland, NY, where there was plenty of ripe, beautiful strawberries to pick. What better to do with fresh strawberries than to make strawberry shortcake. (I’ll hopefully make some jam later today…) I decided to make mine with Amaretto for a little extra zing, but vanilla extract is great too, but a teaspoon would probably be enough for the following recipe. Enjoy!
Prepare Strawberries (about 6 servings)
| 4 cups | Fresh sliced strawberries | |
| 6 tablespoons | Sugar | |
| 2 tablespoons | Amaretto |
- Mix all ingredients and let sit until the sugar is dissolved and juice has exuded from the berries
- For a more liquid/juicy version, process or mash half of the berries and mix with the sliced berries before mixing with the sugar and Amaretto.
Make the Shortcake
This is my favorite Shortcake recipe, but it makes much more than you need for the above strawberries. You can freeze the extra or halve the recipe.
| 2/3 cup | Half and half | |
| 1 large | Egg | |
| 1 teaspoon | Vanilla extract | |
| 9 oz. (~2 1/2 cups*) | Pastry flour | |
| 1/4 cup | Sugar | |
| 1 tablespoon | Baking powder** | |
| 4 oz.(8 tablespoons) | Cold butter, cut into pieces |
* Stir before measuring if not using a scale
**Make sure that your baking powder is fresh (not lumpy or over 6 months old)
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the first three ingredients with a fork and set aside.
- In a food processor with a chopping blade, process the flour, sugar and baking powder until the butter is dispersed into small bits. If you don’t have a food processor, use a pastry blender or fork to break down the butter into the flour. Don’t let the butter get too warm and melt into the mixture.
- Place the flour mixture into a large bowl and add the liquid mixture all at once, while stirring gently with a fork. Mix only enough to moisten all ingredients. Over mixing will make the biscuits tough.
- Drop in mounds on greased or parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes at 450ºF. Be careful, they burn easily.
Assemble Shortcakes
- Need: Whipped Cream – homemade or a good quality, canned version
- Cut warm shortcakes in half and top with berries and whipped cream.
- Simply delicious!