I love these Strawberry Shortcakes. They are from” Sarabeth’s Good Morning Cookbook (Breakfast, Brunch, and Baking)” by Sarabeth Levine. Sarabeth’s spreadable fruit and marmalade has been one of my favorites for years, as well as her restaurants and her cookbooks. The shortcakes are light with a hint of orange, yet firm enough to hold the juicy vanilla-scented strawberries and whip cream. Sarabeth has a wonderful secret on how to cut the strawberries on page 119 under her Baker’s Note. I highly recommend this book! What would I do if I ever got to meet Sarabeth in person?
Serves: 8
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 18-20 minutes
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
Strawberries
2 pints (4 cups) fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced, removing pale center
¼ cup superfine sugar ( I used granulated sugar)
Seeds from ½ vanilla bean or ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used a ½ vanilla bean)
Shortcakes
1 ½ cups all purpose flour; plus more as needed
¼ cup superfine sugar (I used granulated sugar)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1½ teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Whipped cream, for serving
Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish
- To prepare the strawberries: In a medium bowl, mix the sliced strawberries with the sugar and vanilla seeds. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1-hour and no more than 3-hours before serving. This will allow the berries to release their juices and give you a nice fruit syrup.
- To prepare the shortcake; In a medium bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the orange zest. Add the butter and toss to coat it with the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour, scraping off the blender as needed, until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces of butter. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the cream and mix just until the dough clumps together.
- Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times, until smooth. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and gently roll out to a ¾ -inch-thick round. Using a 2 ¾ -inch fluted biscuit cutter, dipped in flour between cuts, cut out the shortcakes (cut straight down and do not twist the cutter) and place 1 ½ inches apart on the prepared half-sheet pan. To get the most shortcakes out of the dough, cut out the shortcakes close together in concentric circles from the outside in. Gather up the dough scraps and knead very lightly, roll out and cut out more cakes.
- Brush the tops of the cakes with the softened butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until lightly browned, 18-20 minutes. Cool completely on the pan.
- When ready to serve, split the shortcakes in half. Spoon the berries and their syrup onto the bottom halves, top with whipped cream, and cover with the tops. Lightly sift confectioner’s sugar on top of each shortcake.
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