Strawberry Shortcake

This was not a normal 4th of July. No BBQ, no gathering with our friends and our watermelon was so small, it really was meant for only four people. I kind of got into a funk this afternoon and though our dinner menu was already set: hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad and the watermelon, I decided I needed to throw together some sort of dessert. Since I didn't want to go to the store, I chose a recipe for ingredients I already had on hand.

Here's today's cast.

I cubed unsalted butter and left it in the fridge to keep it very cold.

I hulled the strawberries and cut them into chunks. They were sprinkled with sugar and put into the refrigerator for a couple of hours to sweeten up and form some nice juice! Now for the biscuit base.

Milk and lime juice were mixed and left to curdle up.

A few months ago I was making tarts and I didn't have a cookie cutter that was the right size. I bought a whole set after that.

I think it's interesting that the sizes aren't always whole numbers. Hmm. I used the 3.2" for this recipe.

Dry ingredients were combined in a large mixing bowl.

Then the cold butter chunks were added. This can also be done in a food processor but I had some tension to get out so I decided to do it by hand.

I used a pastry cutter to work the butter in.

Then I added the buttermilk and gave it a quick mix.

The resulting dough was shaggy but came together quickly on the counter.

I patted it down to a 1/2" thickness.

It's important to push the cutter straight down and pull it straight back up. Twisting the cutter will compress the edges and make it harder for the biscuit to rise. Now, of course, I chose a butter-rich recipe to work on a very hot and humid day. I can't seem to help myself. Poor choices.

I needed to use a palette knife to lift the biscuits from the counter, where they were rapidly melting, to the rimmed pan.

Apparently, it's good to place biscuits close together so they help each other to rise.

I sprinkled them with turbinado sugar and popped them into a 425F oven for about 17 minutes.

Unfortunately my biscuits decided to merge a bit due to the melting of the butter before baking. Next time I'll try popping the pan into the fridge for a few minutes before I put it in the oven. The biscuits separated easily though.

I didn't have heavy whipping cream so I used a container of Cool Whip that was hanging out in the freezer. We all really enjoyed this last minute dessert; the biscuit top had a nice crunch from the turbinado sugar and the filling was fruity and creamy but not too sweet. Tom, in particular, said he really liked it and added additional fruit and cream to the top half as well.

Happy Independence Day, all!

Here's the promised link:

Strawberry Shortcake