9 hours ago
Summer Is for Strawberry Shortcake
Not that anybody asked, or that it's a competition in any way, but I think the best summer dessert is strawberry shortcake. I do wait all year for ice cream cones and stone fruit pies, and I'm pretty sure I'm contractually obligated to nod to our plum torte. But the heart wants what it wants, and mine always wants strawberry shortcake.
The strawberry shortcakes I grew up with were built on Bisquick and Cool Whip, and I stand by that iteration. (I actually prefer Cool Whip to real whipped cream here, which might lose me some of your trust, but again, the heart, its wants, etc.) But when I have friends to feed, or some really nice berries I want to do right by, I pull out this five-star recipe from 'Jane Grigson's Fruit Book,' adapted by Nancy Harmon Jenkins.
The recipe isn't fussy at all; it's an easy mix of butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, heavy cream and a bit of salt, which neatly come together and bake in the time it takes your strawberries to macerate. And while it calls for a round cutter to make neat little circular shortcakes, know that I've never once used one and instead just eyeball and pat my dough into lovable, if uneven, little rounds. Warm, buttery biscuits; strawberries swimming in ruby juice; cold pillows of whipped cream: Happy summer.
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