Spring Dessert

I think strawberry shortcake is our new guests for dinner, summer dessert. Based on a recipe I found on Epicurious I whipped up these cakey, sweet, super tender biscuits. In the food processor I mixed 1 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 TB baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and pulsed in 1/2 stick butter cut into 1/2" chunks until mixed like coarse sand, or maybe just a bit lumpier. Then I poured in 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 heavy tsp each lemon and orange zest then pulsed until the batter just came together. I scraped the dough out onto a lightly floured surface , kneaded once or twice and patted the mixture out to about 3/4". I cut six 3" circles (I needed to re-pat the dough to get all 6) and lined them up on a parchment covered baking tray. I brushed each of the shortcakes with cream and then sprinkled the tops with sanding sugar. After about 20 minutes at 375º my cakes were just a bit golden and ready to cool and be filled after dinner.
Though these sweet cakes would have been plenty good with just fresh strawberries I decided to follow the recipe and macerate sliced berries in a sprinkle of sugar, chopped mint and a dash of orange zest. When it came time to serve dessert I sliced the biscuits in half, poured the strawberries over the cake, added a generous dollop of whipped cream and the top of the shortcake -- garnished with a bit more cream and strawberries. Easy, seasonal, make-ahead, and delicious. The perfect summer dessert.

A New Go To Dessert

Every now and then, though the culinary snob in me is loathe to admit it, Martha has an idea so good I have to try it right away. The April issue of Martha Stewart Living (I'm a bit behind on my magazines) held this shortcake recipe. New berries are bursting out at our farmer's market, so I knew this little cake was perfect for James' Easter dessert (told you you'd hear about it). Basically it's an almost crumbly, super short dough, topped with sugar macerated strawberries and gently elevated with a whipped cream made by infusing heavy cream with fresh basil leaves. Easy, elegant, and just a bit more refined than the usual backyard version.

Not Dinner But Still Pretty Delish

It's early strawberry season in Southern California and of course I went a little overboard at the farmer's market. Berries were starting to pile up in the fridge so I figured that was a good excuse to whip up a breakfast treat for the big man.

These are just a basic muffin recipe. I mixed the dry ingredients in a bowl (2 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 TB brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt) and added 2 cups f chopped strawberries. In a separate bowl I mixed 1 egg, 3/4 cup of buttermilk 2/3 cup of canola oil and 1 tsp of vanilla extract). I lightly folded the wet ingredients into the "dry", filled a 12 muffin tin and baked for about 22 minutes in a preheated 375º oven.

Perfect with morning coffee.