Recipe: Strawberry Shortcake

This recipe is featured on p. 120 of the Capital Cooking Cookbook. Long ago, we filmed the American Classics show with Chef Shannon Overmiller of The Majestic. Shannon is not only an amazing chef, but she is such a sweet person. This recipe is perfect for strawberry season.

For Berries

3 pints fresh strawberries

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. lemon zest

pinch salt

1. Remove the stems from the strawberries. Cut berries into quarters.

2. Put berries into a large bowl. Add ¼- ½ cup sugar depending on the ripeness of berries. Lemon zest and salt.

3. Mix well to macerate (or marinate) at room temp for about ½ hour. Until juices release.

For Whip cream

1 pint heavy whipping cream 

2 tsp 10x or confectioners sugar

½ vanilla bean

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1. In a clean chilled bowl put in the whipping cream, and vanilla extract and 10 x sugar.

2. Slice the bean down lengthwise in half. Scrape out the seeds using a pairing knife. 

3. Add seeds to bowl.

4. Whisk all ingredients well by hand or in mixer with whip attachment until soft peaks form. 

5. Taste for sweetness

Buttermilk Biscuit

14 oz. flour

½ tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. baking powder

5 ½ oz. Cold unsalted butter

¼ tsp. salt 

9 oz. buttermilk (can use milk plus tsp. lemon juice to make buttermilk)

½ tsp. vanilla extract 

1 tb. turbinado sugar 

Crisco or butter to line the cake pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cut butter into very small pieces (like peas). Re chill butter pieces.

2. On a clean work surface, put flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, mix with pastry cutter or fork.

3. Cut chilled butter pieces into flour mixture, fine but do not over work, want pieces of butter in dough.

4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, in the well put the buttermilk and vanilla a small amount at a time, work into flour with cutter (or fork) gently.

5. Grease a 8 inch cake pan with Crisco lightly.

6. Packed together, not kneaded, form flattened ¾” thick level mound of dough to cut out biscuits with cutter.

7. Cut biscuits w/mold cutter that has been dipped in flour.

8. Put 5-6 in the pan

9. Brush tops with buttermilk

10. Sprinkle with sugar if desired for dessert.

11. Bake for 8-12 minutes until golden and risen.

Let cool and serve.

To serve, slice biscuit in ½ horizontally, place bottom of biscuit on plate, spoon the desired amount of berries and juice onto biscuit. Top berries with a tablespoon of whip cream, top with top half of biscuit and them more cream if desired.

Dust with sugar, drizzle berries around on plate and garnish with a nice sprig of mint.