Strawberry Season
As I wandered through my local Henry’s Market (I won’t actually say Farmer’s Market, because it falls short of being that, and it’s basically a subsidiary of Wild Oats, whom I have issues with) picking up the ingredients I needed for the veggie sloppy joe meal I’ve been promising my daughter, I came across a display chock full of freshly picked Carlsbad strawberries. Carlsbad is a mere five or so miles from my place and is well known for its strawberry fields filled with illegal immigrants picking the dainty gems. Somehow they manage to be there, yet the government says they can’t. In the world of big produce business, I guess it becomes okay to just ignore that as long as huge profits are in order, I suppose. See, now I feel bad for purchasing the three pints I did. I should’ve gone to some small stand or co-op somewhere to get the berries. Dammit.
Anyway, as I passed the display, a light bulb in my head went DING! (do they ding?) and I ended up buying a bunch of strawberries (3 pints for $2.97) with the intention of making some strawberry shortcakes. I’ve made it a yearly seasonal nod to make these delectable desserts during the weeks when strawberries come into season. In SoCal, that time is right now. Unlike my dessert attempt last night, this recipe has been tried and tested quite a few times over the last four or so years. I’ve got this one down to a T.
Strawberry Shortcake
The recipe for this comes straight from an old standby of mine, Baking Illustrated. This veritable encyclopedia of baking has single-handedly changed my view of bread making, dessert baking, and confection creating. A product of the folks from Cook’s Illustrated, I find this book to be a necessary part to any cook/baker’s collection of recipe sources. Before I made the shortcakes, I had my daughter, Delphina, core and slice the berries. There is nothing like kids to share quality time with (and to farm tedious work out to!). Once she prepped the berries, I had her add a half cup of sugar and about two or three tablespoons of Port wine. Delphina closed the plastic container, gave it a good shake, and put it into the refrigerator to macerate for a couple hours. Just prior to serving, I mashed the strawberries with a potato masher just to rid the mixture of large slices and to further distribute the sweet essence.
The shortcakes are pretty simple. First, of course, I preheated the oven to 425 degrees. After mixing flour, sugar, baking powder, and chopped cubes of butter in my food processor, I added a mixture of whole milk and eggs. Once the dry and wet ingredients were folded together in a mixing bowl, I poured the dough out to a lightly floured surface, shaped the dough into a ten inch square (about 3/4 of an inch thick). Using a round, floured deep cookie cutter (3 inch diameter), I cut out the biscuits. Of course, when you run out of room for the cutouts, reshape the ball, flatten with your fingers again, and continue cutting. I managed to get 12 biscuits out of the double recipe I used. After glazing the tops with brushed egg white and sprinkles of sugar, in went the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Each sheet baked for 13 minutes and the biscuits should look golden on top and flaky on the sides when they come out.
While the shortcakes baked, I made a very simple whipped cream with heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Using a chilled mixing bowl and wire whisk, I started the mixer at the slowest speed and increased it incrementally over three or so minutes until the cream began to gain volume. When peaks formed at the highest speed, I turned the mixer off and folded the whipped cream gently to ensure sugar distribution and stored it in a covered container inside the refrigerator.
Assembly couldn’t be simpler. Once the shortcakes are cooled, you should be able to pull the top and bottom parts apart. If you need help, use a butter knife to separate the sections, kind of like a burger bun. Two or three spoons-full of strawberries went on the bottom followed by a layer of whipped cream (extruded by my decorator…you can use a spoon if you’d like, but I like my food fancy looking at least). The top went on next, followed by more strawberries and a dot of whipped cream.
This dish is both refreshing and sweet. It feels light going down and utilizes the rich cream, the sugary strawberries, and the buttery shortbread to create a phenomenal dessert sensation. This dish also goes to prove that strawberries in season (as opposed to the freak-berries of fall and winter) are truly divine and can be some of the best fruit you’ll ever consume. As evidenced by all the full mouths and the moaning by my test group (yeah, my family again…), I think the recipe and berries were a smash once again for 2007!
Savor the flavors of the season and peace be upon you all.
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