Strawberry Shortcakes

Chef: Helen Rapp

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Level of Difficulty: Medium

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Ingredients:

Shortcake:

• 3 cups (375g) flour

• 1/4 cup (50g) white sugar

• 2 Tbsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 3/4 cup (180g) COLD, unsalted and cubed butter

• 1 cup COLD milk or buttermilk

• Heavy cream (to be brushed on for baking) and sugar for sprinkling

Strawberry topping:

• Fresh strawberries, as many as you want.

• Equal parts water and sugar for simple syrup

• A squeeze of lemon, just about less than half a lemon's worth.

• Cornstarch (optional sauce thickener)

Whipping cream:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• A very small amount of vanilla extract

• 1 tbsp sugar

Equipment:

Mixing bowls (2)

• Whisks

• Pastry cutter or two knives (for combining butter)

• Spoon & spatula

• Measuring utensils

• Cookie cutter

• Rolling pin

• Parchment paper

• Baking sheet

• Pot

Steps:

Preheat oven to 425ºF

To make shortcake:

• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

• Cut and mix butter into mixture, then form a well in the middle.

• Pour milk into well, and mix until just combined. Too much mixing makes the dough hard to work with and chewy.

• Turn onto clean, floured surface, and gently flatten and roll until the dough is about 1/2 an inch thick.

• Cut desired shapes with a cookie cutter out of the dough, placing then onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then, gently roll and repeat this step until all dough has been turned into shortcakes.

• Brush the tops of the shortcakes with a bit of heavy cream, then sprinkle granulated white sugar on top.

• Bake for about 15 minutes.

To make the strawberry topping:

• Wash, hull, and chop up the strawberries into halves.

• Make simple syrup in a pot by warming water and sugar until the sugar dissolves.

• Add the strawberries to the simple syrup on the stove, and squeeze in the lemon.

• Cook this mixture until syrupy (optionally adding cornstarch), then remove from heat to cool.

To make the whipping cream:

• Add whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract to a large bowl.

• Whisk or mix with an electric beater until the cream becomes full of air and light, and it looks like whipped cream.

To assemble:

• Place a shortcake on a plate.

• On this shortcake, add some whipped cream, and then strawberries.

• Top with another shortcake, more whipped cream and strawberries, and enjoy!