Monday, July 27, 2015

Notes and recipe: Shortcake

 26 July 2015





 Prep
  • A video recipe from Chef John at Food Wishes.
  • The video recipe does not include instructions, so I cobbled some together below.
  • One of the appealing attributes of this recipe is how easy it is. I don't know if this is normal for shortcake, but the butter is melted and then just stirred into the dry ingredients.
  • The video says the dough should be patted out to 1-inch thickness, but it didn't look that think. I patted it out to an 8x5 rectangle which was a little less than an inch thick. 
  • I forgot to brush on the cream and sugar so it didn't brown as well, though it did rise quite a bit while baking.



 Eat
  • The shortbread was tough and heavy ... perhaps overworked and/or overbaked. Maybe because it didn't have the cream and sugar on the top it browned more slowly than it would have otherwise.
  • I'll need to make this again and try some other shortbread recipes. My mom served strawberries with biscuits and Diane's mom served them with angel food cake, so while this is more biscuit-like than cake-like, it is a departure from both of our family traditions.



Eat leftover
  • I warmed the shortcake in the microwave the next evening. I enjoyed the shortcake better this way than room temperature as it was served the first evening.

Recipe
Makes 6 Large or 8 Normal Strawberry Shortcakes:

2 cups self rising flour (I used2 cups of all-purpose flour,  1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon table salt)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup milk
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

  1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and continue heating until golden brown. Set aside.
  2. Heat oven to 425° with a rack in the middle position.
  3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.
  4. Add milk, heavy cream, and melted butter and stir with a spoon until just combined.
  5. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and press it into a 1-inch thick rectangle.
  6. Cut it into 6 or 8 evenly sized pieces.
  7. Transfer to a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper or a silpat.
  8. Brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar
  9. Bake until browned, 15-18 minutes

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