Strawberry Shortcake

Fresh strawberries are available all year round. That was not the case when I was growing up so the wait for absolutely fresh local strawberries was sometimes agonizing. After all strawberry shortcake was one of our families favorite desserts. My mother took the route of a Bisquick mix short cake and that's all I ever had growing up. Today, I make mine with Bisquick or use a from scratch recipe. On lazy occasions I'll serve the fresh berries with angel food cakes and whipped cream.
But always my father received the biggest shortcake - one that filled the entire dish! Talk about berry envy!

For the berries themselves: taste one to see how sweet they are. To a bowl add in your washed and sliced berries with anywhere from 1/3 cup more or less of sugar for two pints of berries. Mix and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. This is called macerating the berries. The sugar will help draw out the berries natural juices.

• strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar for macerating

For the shortcake:

In a bowl combine and sift together:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1. Place the sifted mixture into a food processor with the metal blade.
2. Add in ice cold butter - 3 tbsp.
3. Pulse until you have a crumbly mixture.
4. Slowly add in about 3/4 cup of milk until you have a soft dough.
5. Flour your rolling surface and rolling pin.
6. Take the dough and roll out to 1/2 inch thickness.
7. Using a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter (2 1/2 inch) cut out the rounds.
8. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with a cooking spray.
9. Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for approximately 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
10. Cool the shortcake biscuits and slice in half to make the dessert.

Make home made whipped cream or use your favorite store brand. For home made:

• 1 pint of whipping cream or heavy cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. sugar

1. Combine in a bowl and beat until fluffy on medium high speed.

If you don't want to do individual short cakes. Make two very large biscuits and form a cake like this picture shows.