These shortcakes are light and airy, but they didn’t rise high enough to take to the county fair–but good. Readers don’t need instructions on what to do with these–and strawberries and whipped cream–save for the neat idea, I read somewhere, to puree some of the strawberries and pour them over the bottom shortcake half and onto the plate to moisten the shortcake and to serve as a sauce for the whole dessert.
Here is a classic recipe for short cakes: (See abbreviations, if necessary)
2C AP flour
1/3C sugar
2t baking powder
1t baking soda
2 pinches salt
4oz butter, diced (½-inch) small and very chilled
1 large egg, chilled
¼C whipping cream, chilled
¼C buttermilk, chilled
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1. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a flour sifter
2. Sift all into a large bowl
3. Add chilled butter cubes and work into the flour mixture quickly with a kitchen fork, pastry cutter and/or hands until butter pieces are buckshot small and completely coated
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, cream and buttermilk
5. Create a well in the center of the large bowl and pour in the cream
mixture
6. With a kitchen fork, work in the flour from the edges to and over the top of the liquid center until all the flour is wet and all the liquid is absorbed
7. Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead into a cohesive ball (if too wet work in a little flour, if too dry work in a few drops of cream). Don’t overwork it. It should be on the wet side
8. Flatten out the dough by hand or with a rolling pin to a depth of ¾-inch or less
9. With a 2.5-inch or 60mm cutter, cut rounds and place them on a sheet pan that’s been buttered or lined with a silicone/super parchment sheet
10. Gather up the scraps and reform for more cuts
11. Brush on some cream and dust the tops with a little sugar
12. Bake in a 375F oven until lightly brown, about 15 minutes conventional
or about 11 minutes with the convection fan on. Rotate the sheet pan half way through
13. Rack, cool, hold and reheat before serving
