Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
1 pound strawberries
⅓ cup sugar
2 ½ cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ sticks cold, cubed butter
¾ cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Steps
Wash 1 pound of fresh strawberries
Cut the stems off the strawberries and thinly slice the fruit into small pieces
Place all the sliced strawberries into a large bowl
Sprinkle ⅓ cup of sugar over the sliced strawberries
Toss the strawberries with the sugar until the strawberries are all coated and the sugar is dissolved
Let the strawberries and sugar sit for at least 30 minutes while the shortcakes and whipped cream are being prepared
In a separate bowl, combine 2 ½ cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of baking powder
Add 1 ½ sticks of cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture
Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in with the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs
Pour in ¾ cup of milk
Stir the milk with the cut butter and flour mixture to begin forming a loose dough
Turn the shortcake dough out on a clean flat surface and use your hands to press it together so everything is firm
Form the dough to be about an inch thick in a flat rectangle shape
Use a butter knife to cut the dough out into even sized square pieces
Transfer the individual biscuits to a parchment paper lined tray
Bake the shortcakes in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 to 20 minutes
Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool completely
Pour 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in a metal bowl
Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cream
Use a mixer to beat and whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks
To assemble the strawberry shortcakes, take a baked, cooled biscuit and cut it in half
Spread a few small spoonfuls of the sweetened strawberries on one side of the split biscuit
Spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of the berries
Place the other half of the biscuit on top
Spread a few more slices of strawberries on the biscuit letting any extra juices drip down