Strawberry Shortcake

It was TheRoomDad’s birthday this weekend, and there were many little opinions about the birthday dessert he should have. TheRoomDad typically does not go old school like I do and want a yellow cake from the grocery store with butter cream frosting (my favorite birthday cake). So, I made the executive decision to serve strawberry shortcake. TheRoomDad loves fruit desserts, and we all thought this particular version of strawberry shortcake was delicious.

Shortcake Ingredients

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 c. flour (plus more for rolling out dough)
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 6 T. cold butter cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. plus 3 T. heavy cream (plus more cream for serving)
• 1 large egg yolk

Shortcake Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Combine 1/4 c. sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Use a fork (or a pastry cutter) to cut in butter until the dry ingredients resemble coarse meal.

• Whisk together egg and 1/2 c. plus 2 T. heavy cream in a separate bowl. Slowly add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork until the dough comes together.

• Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough into a 6-in. square, 1-in. thick. Cut 4 rounds using a 2 1/2 in. cookie cutter. Place shortcakes on an ungreased cookie sheet.

• Whisk together egg yolk and 1 T. cream in a small bowl; brush over the tops of the biscuits.

• Bake until golden brown, ~25 minutes. Remove from the cookie sheet immediately and cool on a wire rack for ~15 minutes.

Strawberries

• Cut ~16 oz. of strawberries (the standard container size, about 2 cups) into quarters/bite sized pieces and put in a bowl.
• Top with 3 T. fresh lemon juice and 1/4 c. sugar. Stir gently without crushing the strawberries.
• Let stand about 1 hour.

Assembly

• Cut shortcake biscuits in half like a hamburger bun.
• Place biscuit halves in the bottom of a bowl. Top with sweetened strawberries making sure to get a little strawberry juice on there too.
• Drizzle heavy cream over the top.

Notes

• You can serve the shortcake with whipped cream rather than the liquid heavy cream.
• Use a glass with a thin rim to cut the biscuits if you do not have a round cookie cutter.
• Trying not to overknead the shortcake dough, keep reshaping leftover dough and cutting more biscuits until the dough is used. The final biscuit can be formed by hand rather than using a cutter.