Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake is one of my most favorite desserts. Once I discovered Martha Stewart's recipe for shortcake biscuits, I never looked back. They are so, so good. But try not to make them ahead of time. They are best fresh from the oven, split in half, and filled with macerated strawberries and freshly whipped cream. (Not whipped cream from a spray can. Please. I have strong feelings about this.) I made them for Sunday dinner yesterday and I think I ate my body weight in them. I don't recommend doing that, but I do recommend making them as soon as possible. You won't be sorry.

Shortcake Biscuits
from Martha Stewart

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter (or 3/4 cup), cold, cut into small pieces
2 cups heavy cream
one lightly beaten egg for brushing the tops of the biscuits
sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You can use a pastry blender, but I think my fingers work best.

Pour in the heavy cream. With a rubber spatula, fold the cream into the dough, working in all directions and making sure to get the crumbs at the bottom of the bowl. The dough will be sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With your fingers, gently pat the dough into a round, about 1 1/4 inches thick, pressing in all of the loose bits. Be careful not to over work the dough. The recipe recommends a 2 1/4 inch round biscuit cutter, but I don't have that size. So to make big biscuits, I use my 3 inch cutter, and to make mini ones, like in the picture above, I use my 1 3/4 inch cutter.

Place the biscuits onto an unlined baking sheet. Brush the tops with the beaten egg and dust with sanding (or granulated) sugar. Bake until the tops are golden brown. My small biscuits took about 16 minutes, I think, and the big ones took about 22 minutes.

The tops come out nice and crispy, while the insides are fluffy and soft. It is the perfect springtime dessert.