STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES
with Raspberry Sauce
About the Recipe
Everyone loves classic strawberry shortcake, biscuits split in half and filled with whipped cream and strawberries macerated in sugar until the fruit surrenders its juice and becomes wonderfully saucy. These shortcakes are all that and more. For extra decadence, I've added vanilla ice cream to the mix and orange liqueur to the maceration. And there's a raspberry sauce topping---good on plain ice cream or toasted poundcake (or the two together) as well.
Wrapped well, the biscuits can be frozen for many months so make extra. They are also great for breakfast with butter and jam or marmalade.
You can make the sauce with fresh raspberries (or even strawberries) if you prefer but frozen ones work wonderfully here and are less expensive. I try to always have a bag or two in my freezer.
Strawberry Short Cakes with Raspberry Sauce
Serves 6-7
Ingredients
Shortcakes:
1 teaspoon fine salt
2 3/4 cups pastry or cake flour
1/4 cup sugar plus additional to sprinkle on top
4 teaspoons baking powder
10 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1 tablespoon-pieces
1 cup heavy cream plus additional to brush on top
coarse sugar (regular sugar may be substituted) for sprinkling on top
of filling
4 heaping cups fresh strawberries, stemmed and thickly sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Kirsch, Framboise or Grand Marnier
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 pint best quality vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup COLD heavy cream whipped with 1 teaspoon sugar
For Raspberry Sauce:
2 bags frozen raspberries (or strawberries), thawed
1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)
a pinch of salt
finely grated zest plus the juice of one lemon
Method
Shortcakes:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt with a few pulses. Add the chilled butter and pulse just until combined. With the motor running, pour the cream through the feed tube, stopping just before the dough forms a ball.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Do not overwork. Gently roll out the dough to a round 3/4 inch thick. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter or glass, cut out 6-7 circles. (Knead the scraps together and reroll as required.)
Arrange the dough circles on the prepared baking tray, brush the tops with cream and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake 22-30 minutes, or until the cakes are golden and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, toss the sliced berries together with the sugar, lemon juice, liqueur, and orange zest. Set aside.
When ready to serve, split each shortcake in half and warm slightly in a 350 oven.
For each serving, place the bottom half of the shortcake on a dessert plate. Top the cake with a large scoop of ice cream, and arrange strawberries over and around the ice cream, drizzling with the strawberry juices, and top with the remaining half of the cake. Add a dollop of whipped cream on the side of the plate.
Raspberry Sauce:
Boil about ten minutes — stirring frequently — until the berries have lost their shape completely and the sauce tastes good. Cool. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.