STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE WITH HOMEMADE BISCUITS
I’m generally not great at sweets except when it’s something straightforward, such as strawberry shortcake. Luckily, simple doesn’t mean unimpressive. The only ingredients you’ll need to make these adorable, Instagram-worthy shortcakes are some pantry staples and the freshest strawberries of the season.
So skip the over-sugared candy-bar-stuffed-into-cake-topped-with-ice-cream-and-drizzled-with-chocolate-syrup type of over-the-top desserts that are all the rage right now, grab a pound of fresh strawberries, and make a strawberry shortcake recipe that is truly worth bragging about. Let the gorgeous strawberries do their work, and have a blast while they’re here!
HOMEMADE SWEET BISCUITS
For the cake portion of these shortcakes, I took my preferred five-ingredient frozen biscuit recipe, topped them with some sugar to make them more dessert-like, and then transformed them into a more natural round shape. They were perfect for strawberry shortcakes because they had a super soft crumb, which soaked up the syrup of the strawberry with ease.
This recipe yielded eight biscuits, and I believe the cream and strawberries will only last for around six, so you can save two biscuits left to decorate with jam and butter for breakfast. It will be a great way to repay me.
HOMEMADE VANILLA WHIPPED CREAM
Since I had sufficient whipping cream on hand to make the biscuits, it was also time to create the whipped cream myself. You must give it a go if you’ve never made homemade whipping cream. It’s simple and tastes superior to the stuff you find in the container or bottle. It can be done using the help of a whisk, or you can use an electric mixer if you don’t want to work your muscles. It’s all just three minutes.
INGREDIENTS
One lb. fresh strawberries ($2.99)
2 Tbsp sugar ($0.04)
Sweet Biscuits
2.5 cups all-purpose flour ($0.26)
One teaspoon salt ($0.05)
2 Tbsp sugar ($0.04)
4 tsp baking soda ($0.16)
2 cups of heavy-whipped cream ($1.85)
Vanilla Whipped Cream
1 cup of heavy whipping cream ($0.92)
2 Tbsp sugar ($0.04)
1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.28)
INSTRUCTIONS
Wash the strawberries thoroughly and then remove the leaves and stems by scooping them up with the help of a spoon. Cut the strawberries lengthwise into around four pieces each. Place the sliced strawberries in the container, add two tablespoons of sugar, stir, and place them in a bowl to rest. Sugar will pull all the juice out of the strawberries while they sit, creating the most delicious strawberry syrup. The strawberries are stirred frequently while they sleep.
Heat the oven to a temperature of 400oF for baking the biscuits. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined.
Incorporate the whipping cream heavily into the bowl together with the flour. Stir until the dough is formed and there is no dry flour on the bowl’s surface.
Clean your hands of flour. Then, break the dough into eight pieces and roughly form the pieces into circular shapes, approximately one inch to one-and-a-half inches thick. The biscuits that have been shaped should be placed on the baking sheets. Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes or until slightly golden brown on top.
While the biscuits bake, make the vanilla whipping cream. Mix your heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla into a metal or glass bowl. Mix vigorously with your hands or a mixer until soft peaks form. Be careful not to mix the cream over, or it may break or separate.
Once the biscuits are cooked, allow them to rest until they’re cool enough to be handled. Carefully cut the biscuits into half. Scoop some strawberries and syrup made from strawberries out of the lower part of the bowl on the biscuit’s bottom. Add a big dollop of whipped cream and then the top portion of the cookie. Then, finish each stack with a bit of whip cream, a few strawberries, and drizzles of strawberry syrup.
