It's a strawberry shortcake kinda summer.

This fabulous creation was inspired by my local farmers market here in Venice Beach, CA. I couldn't resist the perfection of a box of ripe, organic, mouth watering, seasonal strawberries! Mmmmm....Then there is the equal level of perfection from Aris Natural Foods. They make all of their decadent dairy products out of sheep and goat milk. I decided to marry the sheep's milk greek fig yogurt (yeah you heard me ;) with some good ol' homemade whipped cream and continue on to create a towering, delicious pile of heaven atop some old fashioned homemade shortcake. Hot damn! 

Shortbread recipe

9 oz. or 2c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c. plus 1Tbs. sugar
2 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 oz. or 1/2 c butter cut into 1/2 in pieces
1 large egg
1/4 c heavy cream
1/4 c buttermilk

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Line 2 cake pans with parchment.

Sift the flour, 1/3 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. Stir in the salt. Using a pastry blender, a fork, or kitchen aid mixer with wisk attachment, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  

In a small bowl, beat the egg and heavy cream with a fork. Mix in the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the cream mixture. Mix with the fork or paddle attachment until the dough is evenly moistened and just comes together. Mix until JUST combined. Do not over mix. Gather the dough and gently knead it three or four times. If the dough seems dry and doesn’t form a cohesive mass, work in more cream, 1 tsp. at a time.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it 3 or 4 more times. Cut dough in two equal pieces and lightly roll/press into buttered or lined cake pans.

Lightly brush the biscuit tops with cream (about 1 Tbs.) and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar. Bake, rotating once, until the biscuit tops are 'slightly' browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not over bake or it will result in a hard scone. Let the biscuits cool slightly while you whip the cream.

Strawberries

cut up 4c. of ripe strawberries. Put one-third of the berries in a medium bowl and, using a potato masher or blender crush them into a chunky purée. Slice the remaining berries 1/4 inch thick and stir them into the mashed berries along with 2Tbs sugar...more or less. Let the berries sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Whipped cream

1 & 1/2 cups *organic heavy cream 2 Tbs. granulated sugar


In a large, chilled metal bowl, whip the heavy cream and sugar to soft peaks with an electric mixer. Do not over mix or you will end up with butter! (Use immediately or refrigerate, covered until ready to serve).


*I always try to use organic dairy products...They don't have the BGH toxic growth hormone and they simply taste better!


Enjoy

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