Strawberry Shortcake

This Sunday was Father's Day and to celebrate I knew I needed to make a fruit related dessert. My dad has never been one to turn down a dessert, no matter what kind, but his absolute favorites always involve fruit. Since I didn't have much time, I decided to go with strawberry shortcakes. They come together quick, but look like they took hours.




The recipe I used is a cross between a biscuit and a scone. Not as sweet as a scone, but had a little more body to it than a biscuit does. It really allowed the strawberries to shine, which was perfect because they were delicious! I used homemade whipped cream, but if you don't have time you could use store bought. You could make this recipe with any type of fruit. Next time I might try peaches.

Shortcake
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 sticks butter, cold
2 cups AP flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Strawberries
1 pint strawberries, sliced
3 Tbsp sugar

Whipped Cream
1 cup cold whipping cream
3 Tbsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into cubes, and then using a pastry cutter, incorporate it into the flour mixture. Combine until the butter is pea sized.

2. Beat the milk, eggs, and vanilla together until combined. Add mixture to the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. The dough may be a little wet, but that's okay.

3. Flour your work surface and turn the dough onto the flour. Dust the top of the dough with flour and pat out until it's an inch thick. Fold the dough and pat out again. Repeat 3-4 times.

4. Pat the dough out until 1 inch think and then take a round cutter and cut 4 circles out of the dough. Place on a greased baking sheet. Combine the scraps, pat out again and cut more circles.

5. Once all the circles are cut, beat an egg and brush the tops of the dough with the egg. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on the top and place in the oven to bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden on top and cooked through. Remove from oven a put on a cooling rack to cool.

6. Combine the sliced strawberries and sugar in a bowl and allow to sit for 30 minutes to an hour. This makes a little bit of syrup and will make the strawberries a little more sweet.

7. To serve: cut the shortcakes in half and spoon as many strawberries as you like onto the bottom half of the shortcake. Spoon some whipped cream on top of that and then top with the other shortcake half.